DANAJON BANK Philippines
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A Profile of DANAJON BANK Philippines A Portfolio of the Coastal Resource/ Socio-economic Status and Coastal Resource Management Programs in Danajon Bank A document by the Coastal Conservation and Education Foundation Inc. for USAID as part of its Cooperative Agreement # No. AID-492-A-11-00002 1 Table of Contents Danajon Bank , Overview 4 Legal and Institutional Framework, Introduction 7 Coastal Management and Protected Areas in Danajon Double Barrier Reef 8 The Provincial-level Policies and Initiatives 13 Institutions Involved in Coastal Resource Management 15 Stakeholders in Danajon Bank 17 Coastal Habitats and Resources 19 Methodology, Live Hard Coral 21 Fish Density, Fish Diversity, Fish Biomass 22 Seagrass, Mangroves 24 Management Implications and Recommendations 23 Socio-Economic Profile, Summary 26 Background 27 Demographic Profile, Socio-economic Profile 28 Perceptions of MPAs 29 Analysis 30 Conclusions, Recommendations 32 Economic Valuation Study, Summary, Key Result Findings, Estimation of Economic Value 33 Fishing 34 Seaweed Farming 35 This publication is available electronically on www.coast.ph. Tourism, Indirect Values, Total Economic Value 36 For more information about this material, full studies, and related work, contact: Willingness to Pay, Policy Implications 37 Coastal Conservation and Education Foundation, Inc. Conclusion and Recommendations 38 Room 301, PDI Condominium, Archbishop Reyes Avenue, Banilad, Cebu City 6000 Cebu, Philippines Tel: (6332) 233-6909 or (6332) 233-6947; Fax: (6332) 233-6891 Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment, Introduction 39 The Vulnerability Assessment Framework, Exposure 41 This material was made possible through the support provided by the United States Agency for Sensitivity 43 International Development - Philippines under the terms of Cooperative Agreement The Lack of Adaptive Capacity 45 No. AI-492-A-II-00002 Summary of Key Findings 46 Citation: A Profile of Danajon Bank Philippines: A Portfolio of the Coastal Resource/Socio-economic Recommendations 47 Status and Coastal Resource Management Programs in Danajon Bank. 2013. Coastal Conservation References 48 and Education Foundation Inc., Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines. 48pp. 2 3 protected areas (MPAs) including seven Danajon Bank is considered a critical Danajon Bank strict nature reserves and three protected resource area especially for fishing, as it seascapes. Danajon Bank hosts significant sustains the livelihood of around 5,000 mangrove forest cover with over 2,000 ha fishers in the commercial sector and over Overview of Rhizophora sp. The area also serves as 125,000 full-time municipal fishers in its important feeding and roosting grounds 17 municipalities/cities covering four The Danajon Bank is the only double barrier reef in the Philippines formed over the last of over 20 bird species during July to (4) provinces and two (2) administrative 6,000 years and one of only three such sites in the Indo-Pacific region. Danajon Bank November, one of which is the IUCN-listed regions. Ten (10) municipalities (Tubigon, covers a total area of 272 km2 (27,200 ha) with a total coastline of 699 km including threatened species Chinese egret (Egretta Clarin, Inabanga, Buenavista, Getafe, 40 islands, located off northern Bohol. This unique coastal environment is of global eulophotes). Talibon, Trinidad, Bien Unido, Ubay, and ecological significance is a priority area for the conservation of reef fishes, corals, Carlos P. Garcia) are located in northern mangroves and mollusks because of a generally large, poor population which is highly The outer reef is largely outside any active Bohol, two (2), Lapu-Lapu City and reliant on fishery resources. management effort. The collaborative Cordova are geographically located in management of Danajon Bank serves Cebu province, four (4), Hindang, Hilongos, three important functions: (1) supporting Bato, and Matalom in Leyte province, sustainable fisheries in Central Philippines, and one (Maasin City) in Southern Leyte (2) protecting marine biodiversity for province. Fishing is not only considered human wellbeing, and (3) creating new as a subsistence practice for the people economic development opportunities for living near the Danajon Bank as it has been dive tourism. embedded within their cultural identity as individuals and as communities (Langjahr, Danajon Bank is located off the northern 2006). part of Bohol, the mid-eastern part of Cebu and south-western part of Leyte Over time, the degradation of the within the Visayan region. It is the only Danajon Bank reef system has had double barrier reef in the Philippines serious consequences for food security, (Pichon, 1977). It covers a total area of conservation and economic growth 27,200 hectares with a total coastline of because of overfishing, population 699 km including 40 islands, and accounts pressure and degradation of habitats. for over one percent (1%) of the total area Actual living coral cover is low despite of coral reefs of the Philippines which is high coral diversity in the area. Fish estimated at 27,000 km2 (Christie et al. abundance and diversity in six inner reef 2006). This unique coastal environment sites surveyed were considered low by is of global ecological significance and is Philippine standards given that a typical at the world’s epicenter of marine-shore reef, the maximum number of fish count fish biodiversity (Carpenter and Springer is 800 per 500m2 (Calumpong, 2005). Fish Danajon Bank consists of three large reefs and clusters of small reefs. The outer barrier 2005). It has been identified as a priority biomass was also very low suggesting that reefs and slopes contain the most prolific coral growth while the inner reefs and lagoons area for the conservation of reef fishes, the general status of the area is degraded. are more turbid and have less coral growth. In 2004, 211 hard coral species have been corals, mangroves and mollusks (Green et recorded by local scientists while the presence of a variety of sharks and rays as well al. 2004). A number of coastal resource management as a large population of seahorses were also reported. There are more than 30 marine projects initiated either by local 4 5 communities or government agencies In 2002, the provinces surrounding the Legal and Institutional Framework such as the Department of Environment Danajon Bank signed a Memorandum of and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Agreement to create a technical working Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources group to oversee the management and (BFAR) of the Department of Agriculture conservation of Danajon Bank. This was (DA) have been implemented within the the CeLeBoSoLe Council (or the Cebu- Danajon Bank in partnership with non- Leyte-Bohol-Southern Leyte Council) government organizations or special which had representatives from the programs such as the Fisheries Improved Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources for Sustainable Harvest (FISH), and (BFAR), Philippine National Police (PNP) Project Seahorse Foundation. 10 National Maritime Group, Philippine Coast Guard Integrated Protected Area System (NIPAS) (PCG), Department of Environment sites have been established within these and natural Resources (DENR), National boundaries, including 7 strict nature Economic and Development Authority reserves and 3 protected seascapes (Green (NEDA), and Department of Interior and et al., 2002). Local Government (DILG) with the support of several projects and non-government A local mangrove reforestation initiative organizations. has also been implemented within this area. In her paper, Amper (2004) In 2011, The Coastal Conservation and argues that mangrove reforestation is an Education Foundation, Inc. (CCEF) assisted Figure 1. Administrative boundaries in the Danajon Bank area indigenous, locally-driven initiative. The the 23 municipal local governments 487-hectare mangrove area has not only and the four concerned provinces to protected the island from big waves and create the Danajon Double Barrier Reef Introduction strong winds, and provided a spawning Management Council (or DDBRMC) for area for fish and other marine creatures, improved collaborative management of Pursuant to the constitutional policy to protect the right of the people to a balanced and but also brought eco-tourists from all over Danajon Bank. healthful ecology, the local government units (LGUs) are given territorial jurisdiction the world to relish the magnificent view. to manage municipal waters, including the power to formulate ordinances, resolution, A number of marine protected areas have policies and programs consistent with the framework of local autonomy. One of the also been established by various local basic services mandated by the Local Government Code (RA 7610) is the duty to protect government units in the area supported and manage the coastal and marine environment, to impose local fishery revenues and by such projects as the Community-based taxes, to delineate their municipal waters, and to allocate the use of resources within Coastal Resource Management Project municipal waters. The national government is also required to conduct consultation (CBCRMP) of the Department of Finance with the local governments pursuant to their proposed projects to promote coastal and the Coastal Resource Management protection. The Fisheries Code (RA 8550) also granted powers to the LGU to grant Project of the DENR. As of 2004, 60 license and fishing privileges to registered fishers as well as to register motorized boats community and municipal-based MPAs with tonnage