‘AN unforgettable experience,” exclaimed ocean explorer, filmmaker and Oceana senior advisor Alexandra Cousteau in describing her underwater exploration of the Apo Island Protected Landscape and Seascape in Dauin, Negros Oriental.
“The Philippines is the ‘center of the center’ of marine biodiversity in the world, that is why I wanted to see it for myself,” Cousteau said during the celebration of Ocean Day at the University of Cebu in Cebu City on Monday, a day after her first exploration of the Apo Island, Negros Oriental’s famous marine sanctuary.
Along with environmental lawyer Gloria Estenzo-Ramos, vice president of Oceana Philippines, Cousteau also rallied university students to help protect the Tañon Strait Protected Seascape (TSPS), the largest marine-protected area in the country that is situated between the islands of Cebu and Negros.
Ocean exploration
Exploring the Philippines’s marine abundance, as part of her ocean-conservation advocacy, has been on Cousteau’s bucket list for a long time.
A senior advisor of Oceana International, an ocean-conservation advocacy group, Cousteau is currently working on a project to document both the ocean’s abundance and destruction, and has picked the Philippines for the job, along with Peru and the US, upon the invitation of Oceana Philippines. Besides Apo Island, Cousteau also visited El Nido in Palawan, considered as the country’s last ecological frontier.
According Cousteau, who was in the country until September 10, after exploring the Benham Bank, the country’s newest territory that is 250 kilometers off Aurora province, she will be back for more ocean adventure in the Philippines.
Danny Ocampo, an experienced diver and Oceana Philippines campaigns director, said Cousteau was obviously pleased with what she saw on Apo Island.
Ocampo accompanied Cousteau during her dives, including around Apo Island, where Cousteau encountered several marine turtles.
Two thumbs up
“She was signaling with two thumbs up underwater. As if she’s telling me this is what it is supposed to be,” Ocampo told the BusinessMirror.
“It is nice to see Apo Island again. I always say it is a source of inspiration to a lot of people involved in marine conservation. I think it is apt to say that Apo Island launched a thousand of marine-protected areas [MPAs] in the Philippines and globally,” he said.
According to Ocampo, there is a need for synergy among stakeholders, national government, local government units [LGUs], people’s organizations and communities to be able to replicate the success story of Apo Island’s famous marine sanctuary.
“There is also a need for political will on the part of the leaders. You have to walk the talk,” he said partly in Filipino, citing the chairman of Barangay Apo, who sent several people to jail, including his distant relatives, for violating the fisheries and environmental laws.
Best-known community managed sanctuary
Cousteau said it is a wonderful opportunity to visit Apo Island, which she described as “a wonderful example of stewardship, marine conservation and sustainable livelihood, as it is truly a wonderful experience.”
Apo Island is one of the world’s best-known community-organized marine sanctuaries in the Philippines. Dr. Angel Alcala, a marine scientist from the Silliman University Marine Laboratory, was able to convince fishermen to declare a small portion near the island as a marine sanctuary. It is along 450 meters of shoreline and extending 500 meters from shore as the sanctuary site.
Since then hundreds of other marine sanctuaries were established in the Philippines. The Apo Island Marine Sanctuary is home to 650 documented species of fish and estimated to have over 400 species of corals. Most of the Philippines’s 450 species of corals can be found on Apo Island.
The Sport Diver Magazine listed Apo Island as one of the top 100 diving spots in the world.
Protected landscape and seascape
The Apo Island Protected Landscape and Seascape was established in 1994 but before the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act became a law, the Apo Island Marine Sanctuary was already established in 1986.
Since then, many other MPAs were established in the Philippines in an attempt to replicate its success story and best practice in coastal-and marine-resource management that benefits the people.
The Tañon Strait, the narrow strait that separates Cebu and Negros, is about 161 km long. It connects the Visayan Sea in the north to the Bohol Sea in the south. It is considered one of the country’s important fishing grounds.
Tañon Strait is also known as home to dolphins and whales, including whale sharks, and other amazing creatures of the sea.
Oceana Philippines is actively campaigning against illegal activities, such as destructive fishing methods, illegal fishing by commercial fishing vessels and land reclamation, or dump-and-fill activities, in the area.
It is also pushing for mandatory use of vessel-monitoring device in commercial fishing vessels in the Philippines to monitor their behavior and prevent them from raiding “no-take zones,” including municipal fishing grounds, MPAs, like around Apo Island, and marine sanctuaries and reserves.
Three generations of explorers
“When my grandfather started exploring the ocean, nobody knew what was there,” Cousteau said, referring to her grandfather, Jacques Cousteau, a renowned French undersea explorer, researcher, photographer and documentary host who invented diving and scuba devices. The elder Cousteau, in the early-1990s, explored El Nido, Palawan’s marine abundance, which made the area even more popular as a tourist destination in the Philippines.
“The Philippines is intimately connected to the ocean,” Cousteau said. “With over 7,000 islands for climate, for food security, for transportation. Nobody understands the ocean better than you,” she said. “Conserving the ocean, protecting the ocean is not a sacrifice in development but an opportunity to enrich your life and your children’s lives by restoring the abundance of the ocean,” added Cousteau, a third-generation explorer in her family with her father, Philippe, also in the same field.
Securing the future
To protect the ocean, Cousteau said Filipinos could help stop overfishing, stop by-catch and expand MPAs.
“If we do them well, we can provide more food for the people, more opportunities and we secure our future and our children’s future,” she said. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), through the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB), is pushing for the establishment of more MPAs to help address the dwindling fish catch in the Philippines.
Director Theresa Mundita S. Lim of the DENR-BMB said the dwindling number of fish could be attributed to a number of factors, including the massive destruction of coastal and marine ecosystems, destructive fishing methods and overfishing.
“If we overharvest, or we harvest even the breeders, we will not allow the fisheries to recover. Also, harvesting smaller fish means we are no longer allowing them to grow and eventually breed, which can lead to a crash in the fish catch,” she said.
Stricter law enforcement
Ramos, an environmental lawyer, said there are adequate laws to protect the country’s oceans.
“The laws are in place; all we need is to enforce the law,” she said, lamenting the fact that despite the creation of MPAs in various parts of the country, both national and local, illegal-fishing activities persist.
The biggest threat to MPAs, she said, are the encroachment of large commercial fishing vessels in supposed “no-take zones,” or even areas exclusive to small fishermen.
The Tañon Strait, she said, is supposed to be exclusive to small fishermen but commercial fishing continues ply the body of water.
It was only recently that authorities, led by the DENR, which has jurisdiction over TSPS, started to strictly enforce environmental and fisheries laws that resulted in the apprehension of commercial fishing vessels over the past several months. Although the TSPS was established more than 17 years ago, it was only last year, when the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) held its first general assembly. A parallel people’s assembly was also held last year. Both meetings were viewed as a first big step in the protection of the TSPS, where 126 MPAs managed by LGUs are situated.
Damaged by typhoon
Strong typhoons, however, continue to cause massive damage to the country’s coastal and marine ecosystems, including Apo Island.
Apo Island Park Supt. Efren Rambua said activities on the island, including the marine sanctuary, are limited to scientific studies for now. Rambua, in a telephone interview, told the BusinessMirror the marine sanctuary was developed by the local government of Dauin and by Silliman University. The sanctuary is just about 5 hectares.
Because it is well-protected, Dauin fishermen reported an increase in their daily fish catch since the marine sanctuary was established.
“The marine sanctuary is under rehabilitation because of the damage caused by typhoons Sendong and Pablo. It is currently closed to diving. Corals take decade to grow back. There are new regrowth but it would take time to grow back, particularly the hard corals,” said Rambua, speaking in mixed Filipino and Cebuano.
Expanding MPAs
Lim said establishing more MPAs aims to address habitat loss and coral-reef destruction; smothering of sea-grass beds and corals, which is caused by pollution, both land-based and water-based; siltation; reclamation and heavy development in coastal areas; and conversion of mangrove areas into fish ponds, and conversion of other soft-bottom ecosystems into other uses.
“We need to address this in an integrated, holistic manner. As for the BMB, our focus is on establishing MPA networks, along with the LGUs [local government units],” she said.
There are currently 70 national MPAs and 1,751 local MPAs nationwide as of 2015. Effective management of MPAs, Lim said, is key to restoring ocean-resources abundance. She underscored the need for active participation of members of PAMB, which is composed of DENR officials and other concerned agencies, officials of LGUs, members of the academic community, people’s organizations, and the help and support of the communities.
Ocean advocacy
During the Cebu event, Cousteau said even young children can help by becoming advocates of ocean conservation.
“Advocacy comes from the heart,” she said. As a child and while growing up in a family of explorers and marine conservationists, Cousteau said her passion for the environment was already there.
She said her 5-year-old daughter had her first exploration in the Philippines.
Ocean advocacy, she said, should be everybody’s advocacy.
“We cannot do it alone. Myself, fellow activists, Oceana, cannot do it alone. Our ocean hero cannot do it alone. We are all part of the problem or we are all part of the solution. We cannot consider that we have no impact on the ocean, no impact on water, no impact on waste,” she said.
Even individual Filipinos could make a positive impact.
“It comes from your heart, from your experience, from what you lost, from what you want to conserve. Protect the place that you call home. If you do that, it will be okay,” she said.
101 ways to help
Cousteau said there are many ways people could help save the ocean.
“Don’t use plastic. Ask restaurants to get rid of single-use plastic, plastic bags, plastic water bottles. Start recycling programs. Keep plastics out of our ocean. Recycling is important. Support local organizations that have programs and campaign here in Cebu, here in the region. Sign petitions, get involved in campaigns,” she said.
According to Cousteau, telling stories to friends and families about the importance of ocean would help influence them toward ocean conservation. “You can touch them the way nobody else can. Talk to them about your passion. Find little ways to get involved,” she said. Cousteau encouraged the youth to take photographs of the ocean, not only of its beauty, but of the threats to it and to marine wildlife, and help increase awareness, stir emotions and action.
Ramos, for her part, said the Philippines has excellent legislation and as citizens, even the youth can do their part by calling the attention of authorities who are remiss of their duties and responsibilities. Sustainable ocean conservation, according to Cousteau, is possible as shown by the experience on Apo Island, wherein people enjoy the ocean’s beauty and bounty at its finest.
Image credits: Oceana/Danny Ocampo, Oceana/Candeze Mongaya