Asean Champions of Biodiversity award to Project Seahorse

Manila, Philippines - In the first region-wide search for ASEAN Champions of Biodiversity, Chevron Philippines Inc. (CPI), marketer of Caltex fuels and lubricants, bagged 3rd place for Most Outstanding Biodiversity Conservation and/or Advocacy Project by a Private Business/Corporation for its Project Seahorse program that created the country’s first multi-use marine park and sanctuary.

The partnership between CPI and Project Seahorse Foundation (PSF)aims to save Danajon Double Barrier Coral Reef by establishing the Minantaw Marine Park and Sanctuary, a pioneering 214.6-hectare multi-use marine zone integrating a regulated fishing zone, an ecological seaweed farming zone, an ecologically sustainable use zone and a 50-hectare strictly no-take or core zone (the sanctuary).

Danajon Bank is a center of marine biodiversity and a critical fishing ground for thousands of fishers from Cebu, Bohol, Leyte and Southern Leyte. Since the 1950s, wanton exploitation and absence of conservation have severely degraded its habitats.

“Chevron deserves credit for the success of Project Seahorse and the community of Caubian in creating the country’s first multi-use marine park and sanctuary. It is admirable that a big commercial company like Chevron includes biodiversity as part of its operational excellence. Chevron used deliberate steps and well-grounded metrics to form a strong tripartite private-government-community alliance,” said Angelie Nellas, senior biologist of PSF.

Since the creation of the sanctuary, local fisher folks are seeing more fish inside the sanctuary. To affirm that these initial observations equate to the effectiveness and the sustainability of the marine park, the project focused on community organizing, formation and capacity building of the management council, as well as monitoring the biophysical conditions of the marine sanctuary.

The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity together with the ASEAN Foundation, the ASEAN Secretariat, the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication, the European Union, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the UNESCO launched the first ASEAN Champions of Biodiversity to recognize ongoing projects on biodiversity conservation and advocacy among Southeast Asian countries in hopes that these programs generate greater leadership, public and media awareness on the regions’ rich yet highly threatened biodiversity and to further establish a concerted effort in biodiversity conservation and advocacy. Chevron bested entries from 20 countries from the region for the award.

“Protecting people and the environment is a core value at Chevron that underlies the work we do to conserve biodiversity in association with our projects and operations. A healthy ecosystem impacts Chevron’s business in two ways: first, it allows an environment that supports the drawing and creation of energy from nature in a sustainable and respectful way, and second, providing for the well-being and progress of local communities will ultimate contribute to the health of the economy,” explains Jim Meynink, CPI country chairman.

The ACB evaluated Project Seahorse based on its clear impact on biodiversity conservation, value and effectiveness, replicability, sustainability, recognition in the community or country where it is implemented, and clear contribution to the goals and objectives of the ASEAN on environment and biodiversity.