Council to hear report on city’s reef study

CEBU, Philippines —  A faculty member and researcher from the Cebu Technological University (CTU) is set to present on Wednesday’s regular session of the Cebu City Council a research project on the assessment of marine biodiversity resources of the city’s reef.

During the last regular session, included in the agenda was the complete technical report of the study, "Assessment of Biodiversity Resources in Campanario Shoal, Cebu City,” which was conducted pursuant to a Memorandum of Agreement, dated September 13, 2021 between the city government and the CTU, and subsidized by the city government through City Council Resolution No. 15-1429-2021.

Dr. Raamah Rosales, director of the Integrated Coastal Resources Management Center of CTU and the project leader, requested to have an opportunity to present before the City Council the result of the study, which could help the council identify interventions that will increase the resiliency of the reef to pressure caused by anthropogenic activities.

In a corollary motion, Councilor Raymond Alvin Garcia moved to have the presentation of Rosales scheduled.

As provided in the technical report’s executive summary, a rapid assessment was initially conducted to identify areas where aggregated coral formations are found and a more detailed assessment was later conducted after the location of the reef was identified.

The assessment focused on the surviving marine flora and fauna.

For marine flora, seagrass and seaweeds were sampled using a transect-quadrat method, while for marine fauna, an assessment of fish was conducted using the fish visual census.

The same transect was used for the assessment of macro-invertebrates. All macro-invertebrates found within the transect line were identified and recorded.

Coral reef assessment was done using the Point Intercept Transect (PIT) method as adapted from the ASEAN - Survey Manual for Tropical Marine Resources to estimate the live coral cover or the biotic components and abiotic components of the reef.

“Results have shown no seagrass in the area, and only six species of macro-algae were found. For the fish survey, 30 species belonging to 15 families were found. Among the species, 12 are targeted species and belong to 9 families were identified and recorded. Indicator species were present in the area, like butterfly fishes which signify that the site has a surviving coral reef,” the technical report provides.

“For coral reef substrate, the area is composed of live coral with 31.83% cover, of which 22.33% are the soft corals, dead coral with 23%, algae with 5.33% coverage, and the non-living component is composed of sand/silt and rubble with a cover of 39.84%,” it added.

Following the devastation of Typhoon Odette, another assessment was conducted and the research team observed that there was no damage to the reef.

“The assessed reef is an important fishing ground among the locals and described as the last remaining coral reef in the City of Cebu. The coral reef provides protection on the coastline of the city from the damaging effects of wave action and storms,” the report further provides.

“Losing the Cebu City Reef may adversely affect the marine ecosystems of the adjacent coastal areas and all other interlinked ecological habitats. The prolonged environmental pressures such as climatic actions and human illegal activities can bring the marine life in Cebu City Reef to irreversible damage,” it added.

The study highly recommends policy intervention for conservation and restoration of the last remaining reef in the city.

Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera, chairperson of the city’s Tourism Commission, said the research project is very timely as the city also has a coastal tourism program.

“One of our plans under coastal tourism is to have a jump-off point for diving here in the City of Cebu, so we don't have to go to Moalboal, Daanbantayan to go diving,” said Pesquera. — GMR (FREEMAN)