NATIONAL PLAN OF ACTION FOR THE CORAL TRIANGLE INITIATIVE oN CORAL REEFS, FISHERIES AND FOOD SECURITY NATIONAL PLAN OF ACTION for the CORAL TRIANGLE INITIATIVE on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security i For CTI Leaders Summit Only. Not for Reproduction or Quotation RepublicofthePhilippines.NationalPlanofActionfortheCoralTriangleInitiativeonCoral Reefs,FisheriesandFoodSecurity 2009 PRINTEDINQUEZONCITY,PHILIPPINES Citation:Republic of the Philippines. National Plan of Action for the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security. DENR-PAWB, Quezon City, Philippines, 64 pp. PublishedbytheDepartmentofEnvironmentandNaturalResourcesProtectedAreasandWildlife Bureau(DENRPAWB),NinoyAquinoParksandWildlifeCenter,NorthAvenue,1101QuezonCity PhotoCredits: DENRPAWB(p.),ConservationInternational(p.),BureauofFisheriesandAquaticResources( ),USAIDFISHProject(),MPASupportNetwork(p.),WorldWideFundforNaturePhilippines() ii REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES For CTI Leaders Summit Only. Not for Reproduction or Quotation Table of Contents SECTION1.BACKGROUND 1 ApexoftheCoralTriangle 1 ThreatstoMarineandCoastalResources 2 CoralTriangleInitiativeonCoralReefs,FisheriesandFoodSecurity 2 Background 2 CTIPlanofAction 3 NPOA Vision Statement 4 NPOA Mission Statement 4 SECTION2.GUIDINGPRINCIPLES 5 SECTION3.COMMITMENTSTOACTION 7 FrameworkforIntegratedCoastalManagement 8 SpecificCommitmentstoAction 11 GOALNo.1“Priority Seascapes” Designated and Effectively Managed 11 GOALNo.2Ecosystem Approach to Management of Fisheries (EAFM) and Other Marine Resources Fully Applied 13 GOALNo.3Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) Established and Effectively Managed 17 GOALNo.4Climate Change Adaptation Measures Achieved 19 GOALNo.5Threatened Species Status Improving 21 OverarchingCommitmentstoAction 23 I. ResearchRequirements 23 II. EnablingPolicy 24 III. PlanningBasedonBestPracticesandLessonsLearned 25 IV. CapacityBuilding 27 V. EnforcementofENRlaws 28 VI. Information,EducationandCommunication(IEC)Campaign 29 SECTION4:COORDINATIONMECHANISMSANDIMPLEMENTINGPARTNERS 31 SECTION5:FINANCIALRESOURCES 32 SECTION6:MONITORINGANDEVALUATION 34 NATIONAL PLAN OF ACTION for the CORAL TRIANGLE INITIATIVE on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security iii For CTI Leaders Summit Only. Not for Reproduction or Quotation ANNEXA.NationalPoliciesonBiodiversityConservation 37 ANNEXB.ProgramsandProjectsImplemented 40 ANNEXC.PartialListofCTIImplementingPartners 47 ANNEXD.MonitoringandEvaluationIndicators 51 ANNEXE.Acronyms 55 iv REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES For CTI Leaders Summit Only. Not for Reproduction or Quotation section 1 BACKGROUNDBACKGROUND FIGURE1:CORALTRIANGLE Source:TNCCoralTriangleCenter APEXOFTHECORALTRIANGLE ThePhilippinesisthesecondlargestarchipelagicnationintheworldafterIndonesia.Itis boundedinthenorthbytheBashiChannel,intheeastbythePacificOcean,inthesouthbythe CelebesSeaandinthewestbytheSouthChinaSea.Itiscomprisedofmorethan7,100islands thatcoveranestimatedlandareaofabout300,000km²andanestimated2.2millionkm²of archipelagicwaters.Thecoastlinecoversabout33,900kmwithanextensivemarineareathat includescoralreefsystemscoveringabout27,000km². Theentirecountryservesastheape xofthe"Cor alTriangle"(CT),whichiskno wnasthew orld's centerofmarinebiodiv ersity(Figure1).TheC Tregionisloc atedalongtheequa toratthe confluenceoftheW esternPacificandIndianOce ans.Usingc oralandr eeffishdiv ersityasthe twomajorcriteria,theboundariesofthisregionaredefinedbyscientistsascoveringallorpart oftheexclusiveeconomiczonesofsixcountries:Indonesia,Malaysia,PapuaNewGuinea,the Philippines,theSolomonIslandsandT imorLeste.Coveringonly1.6%oftheplane t'soceanic area,thereisbroadscientificconsensusthattheCTrepresentstheglobalepicenterofmarine lifeabundanceanddiversitywith76%ofallknowncoralspecies,37%ofallknowncoralreef fishspecies,33%oftheworld'scoralreefs,thegreatestextentofmangroveforestsintheworld, andspawningandjuv enilegrowthareasforthew orld'slargesttunafisher y.Mor eover,the biogeographicalconditionswithintheCTmayalsoenabletheregiontomaintainitsexceptional productivityinthefaceoffutureimpactsofclimatechange,makingitpotentiallytheworld's mostimportant"refuge"formarinelife(CTIRPOA2008). NATIONAL PLAN OF ACTION for the CORAL TRIANGLE INITIATIVE on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security 1 For CTI Leaders Summit Only. Not for Reproduction or Quotation Duetoitsrichbiodiv ersity,thePhi lippinesisinclude dasoneofthe18meg adiversitycountries thatcontain75%oftheglobalbiodiv ersity(HeaneyandMit termeier,1997).Ar ecentstudyby CarpenterandSpringer(2005)analyzed2,983GeographicInformationSystemoverlaysofmarine speciesdistributionsintheIndoMalayPhilippinesArchipelagoandfoundhigherconcentrations ofspeciesperunitareainthePhilippines.CarpenterandSpringercontendthattheresultsof thesestudiesindicatethatspecialattentionisneededforconservationactioninthePhilippines andtherestoftheIndoMalayPhilippinesArchipelago(CIP2006). Coastalandmarineareasarerecognizedasvitalsourcesoffood,mineralsandrawmaterials,as wellasnaturalsettingsforsports,recreation,andothersocialandculturalactivities.Inthe Philippines,marinerelatedeconomicactivities,includingfisheries,marinetransportation, tourism,coastalminingandoffshoreoilandgasdevelopmentmakesignificantcontributionsto GDPaswellasprovidelivelihoodandemploymentopportunitiestocoastalcommunities(EO533 2006). THREATS TO MARINE AND COASTAL RESOURCES Asthecoastalpopulationofanareaincreases,sodoesthelevelofthreatandpressureonthe marineecosystem.Thesepressuresincludeunsustainablefishing,destructivefishingtech niques,negativeimpactsfromaquaculturepractices,sedimentationandsiltationfromcoastal developmentandlandbasedactivities,pollution,andpoorlyplannedandinappropriateland use(CIP2006).Therapidincreaseinurbanization,industrializationandpopulationinthecoastal andmarineareasleadingtomultipleuseconflictshasseverelyaffectedthestateofthe country'scoastalandmarineresourcesandhabitats.Remainingmangroveareaislessthan24%; between30%and50%ofseagrassbedshavebeenlost(Fortes,1994)andonlyabout4%ofthe country'scoralcoverisinexcellentstatus,makingthePhilippinesthe"hottestofthemarine biodiversityhotspotsintheworld"(Robertsetal.2002).Ontopofallofthese,climatechangeis seentoadverselyaffectmarinebiodiversityandlivelihoodsofthecoastalpopulation. Barriersthatlimitthelocalabilitytoaddressthesethreatsincludeinsufficientunderstandingof theconnectivityofmarinebiodiversityandtheecologicalprocessesthatsupportit,generally ineffectiveandundersupportedconservationmanagementandenforcementregimes,limited capacity,lackofc oordinationamongna turalresourcemanagers,andec onomicincentivesthat favorshorttermresourceexploitationoverlongtermsustainableuse.Allthesehaveresulted inlossesofmillionsofUSdollarsannuallyandafisheriesindustrythatisnowcharacterizedas pursuingillegal,unreportedandunregulatedactivities(CIP2006). CORAL TRIANGLE INITIATIVE ON CORAL REEFS, FISHERIES AND FOOD SECURITY BACKGROUND Inresponsetoalarmingtrendspermeatingthroughoutthecoraltriangle,inAugust2007,Presi dentYudhoyonoofIndone siaproposedtootherC Tleadersane wmultilateralpartnershipto safeguardther egion'smarineandc oastalbiologicalresources:theCor alTriangleInitiativeon CoralReefs,F isheriesandF oodSecurity(C TICFF).Thisinitialpr oposalsetinmotionaserie sof eventsthathasadvancedthise ffortquicklyanddecisiv ely.CTIhasbeenf ormallydeclaredatthe APEC,ASEANandBIMPEAGASummitsheldin2007.CTISeniorOfficialsMeetingshavebeen conductedalongwithCTICoordinatingCommitteeMeetingstodevelopajointCTIPlanofAction andRoadmaptobeadoptedatthehighestlevels.GEFfundinghasbeensecured,withADBas theimplementingagency.Othermajorde velopmentpartnerssucha sAUSAID,GTZ,USAIDand WBandinternationalNGOssuchasCI,TNCandWWFarejoiningforcestoworkwiththeCTI governmentsinpursuingtheRegionalPlanofAction. 2 REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES For CTI Leaders Summit Only. Not for Reproduction or Quotation ACTIOrganizingCommittee(OC)wasformedattheseniorlevelofgovernmentinthePhilip pinestoprovidetheroadmaptowardsdevelopingthecountry'snationalactionplan.TheOCis chairedbyboththeDepartmentofEnvironmentandNaturalResourcesandtheDepartmentof Agriculture(throughtheBur eauofF isheriesandAqua ticResources),withCI,WWF ,GMSAand othernationalgovernmentagencies(DFA,etc.)andac ademicinstitutions(UPMSI,etc.)compos ingitsmembership.Sinceitsformation,ithasprovidedtheleadershipandguidanceindrafting thenationalactionplanandcomplyingwiththeregionalroadmapprocess. Inpursuitofabottomupapproachinplanning,multisectoralworkshopswereheldinthemajor islandgroupsofLuzon,VisayasandMindanaoduringthefirsthalfof2008.Theworkshopresults wereconsolidatedandsubjectedtoathoroughreviewbychosenexpertsinthefieldofCRM. TechnicalWorkingGroupswereformedinthesec ondhalfof2 008,againcomposedofr epresen tativesfromthegovernment,NGOs,naturalandsocialscientists,andmajorplayersinlaw enforcement.ThefinaldraftoftheNPOAwasthensubmittedtoafinalpublicconsultationfor validation,approvalanddisseminationinthefirstandsecondquarterof2009. CTINATIONALPLANOFA CTION TheCoralTrianglegovernmentshavenowfinalizedanambitiousandvisionar y10yearPlanof Action.Itcapturesthejointprioritiesandcommitmentsofallsixgovernments,andreflects extensiveinputsoverthepastyearfrommanypartners.TheRegionalPlanofActionhasbeen translatedintoNationalActionPlansbyeachofthesixCTcountries.ForthePhilippineNational PlanofAction(NPOA),IntegratedCoastalManagement(ICM)servesastheoverallframeworkin pursuingthefiveregionalCTIgoals.ItdrawsheavilyfromtheinputsprovidedbyCRMpractitio nersrepresentingpublic,priv ateandNGOsect orsallo verthec ountry.Abot tomupapproach wasutilizedincomingupwiththefinallistofactionsandtargets,mostofwhicharecross