Population: 79,345,812 (July 1999 estimate)  Land area: 298,170 km2 Coastline: 36,289 km  (Source: CIA World Factbook 1999)

Philippines       Basic Data Country Contacts CSD Data Other Information Other Links   Country Contacts: Mr. Marciano Carreon III/Ms. Jessica Muñoz Fisheries Resource Management Project 2/F Estuar Bldg., 880 Quezon Avenue Quezon City 1103 Philippines Tel. (632) 410-9990 Telefax (632) 372-5008 Mr. Florendo Barangan Director Coastal Environment Program Department of Environment and Natural Resources Visayas Ave., Diliman Quezon City 1100 Philippines http://www.denr.gov.ph/blue.htm Ms. Floradema Eleazar Project Manager Community-based Resource Management Program Department of Finance Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Roxas Blvd., Malate, Manila Philippines Dr. Rafael D. Guerrero III, Executive Director Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development Department of Science and Technology Los Baños, Laguna Philippines http://www.laguna.net/pcamrd/ Dr. Catherine Courtney Chief of Party Coastal Resource Management Project-Philippines 5/F CIFC Towers, J. Luna cor. Humabon Sts. North Reclamation Area, Cebu City 6000 Philippines Tel. (63 32) 232 18-21 to -22; 412 04-87 to -89 Fax. (63 32) 232 1825 E-mail: overseas@oneocean.org         (Source: CIA World Factbook 1999)   OCEANS AND COASTAL AREAS   Many thanks to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, the source of the following information. The information was taken from the Philippines' submission to the 5th and 6th Sessions of the Commission on Sustainable Development (last update: April 1997). For further information on the Philippines' social and economic factors, natural resources, and institutional structures see the United Nations System-Wide Web Site on National Implementation of the Rio Commitments National Information for the Philippines at: http://www.un.org/esa/agenda21/natlinfo/countr/philipi/index.htm   The Philippines signed the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on December 10, 1982 and ratified it on February 27, 1984.  To ensure a comprehensive and pragmatic approach to addressing marine and ocean concerns within the context of the Philippines' commitment to implement UNCLOS, the existing Cabinet Committee on the Treaty of the Law of the Sea created on October 3, 1981, has been reconstituted as the Cabinet Committee on Marine and Ocean Affairs. The Committee is mandated to formulate practical and viable policies to address the various concerns of UNCLOS and other marine related matters. As an initial output of the Committee, a National Marine Policy has been formulated and adopted to serve as the umbrella framework for addressing ocean and marine concerns.  A comprehensive National Marine Program is currently being formulated to achieve the goals of the National Marine Policy. In addition, the Philippines participated in the formulation of the Regional Action Plan for the East Asian Seas. The country has become a partner of the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), established in response to Agenda 21. In 1995, the Philippines hosted the ICRI workshop which resulted in the formulation of the ICRI Call for Action and a Framework for Action. The Call of Action and Framework of Action serve as a guide in the formulation of the regional action plan. As an ICRI Partner, the Philippines has now established the Philippine Reef Database (Philreef), and has formulated a National program for the celebration of the International Year of the Reef.  The need to conserve and manage marine resources, particularly the straddling fish stocks (SFS) and the highly migratory fish stocks (HMFS), prompted the Philippines to sign an agreement in 1996 to prevent conflict over fishing on high seas and to conserve stocks of fish which migrate between international waters and areas under national jurisdiction. In preparation for the enforcement of the agreement, a draft Comprehensive Program has been prepared.  Recognizing the impact of land-based resources of pollution in marine and coastal productivity, the Philippines actively participated in the series of meetings that led to the formulation and adoption of the Global Programme on Land-based Sources of Pollution. A national program on land-based sources of pollution is currently being conceptualized to integrate Philippine initiatives and commitments to both the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA) Regional Programs, and NGO initiatives under the auspices of the Advisory Committee on the Protection of Seas (ACOPS).  A national data center on coastal zone environment and resource management is currently being established under the auspices of the ASEAN-Australia Environment and Economic Program, Phase III. This project aims to create a meta-database on coastal resource management which will be implemented through a network approach, that is, a network of networks, and the development of a decision support system.    Other Information   The Philippines, being an archipelagic country, is rich in coastal resources. It is comprised of more than 7,000 islands with a total coastline of over 18,000 km. Seventy per cent (70%) of its 1,500 municipalities are located in coastal areas. Coastal fishing activities account for 40-60% of total fish catch with the fisheries sector accounting for about 4% of GNP and employing more than a million Filipinos. Fish and other marine products supply 70% of total animal protein intake and 30% of total protein intake (CRMP 1999). Tourism is a growing industry in the coastal areas, and together with fisheries and other economic activities in coastal areas, contributes to a host of environmental, socioeconomic and institutional problems.   Issues addressed Fish is a very important commodity in the Philippines. It is the principal source of cheap animal protein in the country. Declining fish yields have affected both the nutrition and income of fishing communities. Scientific results indicated the need for fishing effort to be reduced by a factor of two for the fish populations to recover over a decade ago (see, e.g., Pauly et al. 1989) but conservation and rehabilitation efforts since then have not shown results that indicate significant recovery of habitats and stocks. Tourism is considered to be a major source of alternative or supplemental livelihood for these fishing communities. How to develop tourism in the countryside with revenue benefiting local populace and not just the external capitalists is a challenge that requires infrastructure development and competent planning and cooperation of various sectors (i.e., tourism, environment, fisheries) and stakeholders concerned. Keeping the integrity of marine habitats, the basis of growing nature tourism in the Philippines, is also a major concern.  The occurrence of red tides in the country that has become more frequent in the past two decades (Corrales and Gomez 1990) focused concern on water quality. Heavy rains after a long dry spell that cause nutrient overloading and sudden drops in salinity because of excessive freshwater inundation portend the occurrence of red tides. Red tide occurrences have affected shellfish and other fishery industries and have raised public health concerns mainly because of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) resulting from the ingestion of infected shellfish. Though most people take PSP seriously, there are those whose economic situation lead them to take a risk by either consuming or selling the banned infected shellfish (green bay mussel, Perna viridis). Moreover, the entire fishing industry is affected because uninformed consumers would not eat fish and other products from the sea when red tides occur for fear of contamination or poisoning despite information campaigns on the contrary.  The lack of point-source and non-point source pollution controls are the main factors that contribute to the degradation of water quality in the Philippines. Forest denudation exacerbates the flow of silt and other pollutants to coastal waters. Uncontrolled dumping of raw sewage in coastal areas, particularly in areas that are thickly populated or used heavily by tourists, contributes to dangerous water levels of the bacteria Escherichia coli. This problem has, on a few occasions, caused conflicts between the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Tourism. The high demand for exotic tropical marine products abroad which spurred a frenzy of unsustainable harvesting practices in the Philippines in the 1990s also contributed to the degradation of coastal resources. Uncontrolled harvesting of sharks, sea urchins, and sea horses used for their food and medicinal values contributed to almost local extinction of these species in certain fishing grounds. Aquarium fish and certain high-value species of snappers and groupers that need to be exported live so that restaurateurs can display them live (=fresh) before cooking are harvested with the use of cyanide. Cyanide, when squirted into the water to stun the fish, kills coral reef organisms, and this practice has led to the surreptitious destruction of extensive areas of coral reefs (Erdmann and Pet-Soede 1996; Vallejo 1997).  About 27,000 sq km of coral reef area occur within the 20 m depth contour, but 70% of these coral reefs are in poor to fair condition and degradation is unabated (Gomez et al. 1981; Alcala et al. 1991; Licuanan 1991). Dynamite fishing and trawling by subsistence as well as commercial fishers largely contributed to the leveling of coral reefs. The number of subsistence fishers is continuing to rise because of rapid population increases in coastal communities. People have migrated from the mountains and inland areas either because of the decline in insurgency in the Philippines with the collapse of the Marcos regime in the 1980s or simply because of greater economic opportunities in the coastal areas.  Even if these fishers use benign fishing practices (e.g., simple hook and line), their sheer number will lead to the depletion of stocks in already overfished open access fishing grounds (ìMalthusian overfishingî) (Pauly et al. 1989). There are five levels of government in the Philippines, namely, national, regional, provincial, municipal, and village-level. Shifts in leadership at any level have a potential impact on the implementation of ICM projects. However, changes in the municipal government leadership pose the greatest risk because of the devolution of coastal management authority to the municipalities in 1991. Devolution in this case meant the shifting of some, but not all, managerial control over marine spaces from the national government to the local government units (LGUs). This involves a transfer of both rights and responsibilities, so that an LGU may obtain new opportunities to control exploitation, but must also assume significant management obligations (Abregana et al. 1996). Specific tasks and powers have been assigned to three local levels of government, the provincial, city/municipal, and the barangay (=village) levels, most of which have no capacity to formulate and implement coastal resources management programs. Political as well as socioeconomic structure and cultural values and characteristics that are generally the same throughout the country but different to some extent by region, are also among the factors that have led to a common pattern of exploitation of resources. This pattern involves a series of stages that include discovery of a resource, exploitation, over-exploitation, decrease in yield, depletion, then recognition of the need for management. In summary, the following are the major issues that gave rise to the need for ICM in the Philippines: Serious resource depletion problems, particularly fishery resources Decrease in catch per unit of fishing effort particularly by subsistence fishers Loss of or damage to productive coastal ecosystems (e.g., mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs) Cases of local extinction of economically important marine species Conflict among uses/users of coastal resources Poverty and other social problems of coastal communities Sectoral/fragmented approach to coastal resources management Lack of capacity among local government to manage coastal resources. Community-based coastal resources management Slowly, through a series of projects and programs beginning in the early 1980s, the Philippines has developed the capacity for community-based coastal resources management. Ferrer (1992) described CB-CRM in the Philippines as follows: CB-CRM strives for more active people's participation in the planning and implementation of coastal resources management. It has greater potential for effectiveness and equity. It involves self-management where the community takes responsibility for monitoring and enforcement. It provides a sense of ownership over the resource, which makes the community far more responsible for long-term sustainability of resources. It allows each community to develop a management strategy which meets its own particular needs and conditions. It allows for greater degree of flexibility and can be easily modified. It provides for greater participation by the community in resource management. It strives to make the maximum use of indigenous knowledge and expertise in developing management strategies. There is now a substantial body of experience in this form of coastal resources management among various institutions including national and local government units, NGOs, and academic and research institutions. Nevertheless, despite what have been accomplished by Coastal Resources Management initiatives so far, there is unabated destruction and depletion of coastal resources. The struggle to conserve coastal resources in the country continues in cooperation with international and regional organizations, and the support of donor countries.  The empowerment of disadvantaged groups that comprise the majority of coastal residents affected by multiple management issues is among the main goals of community-based coastal resources management (CB-CRM).  The community-based management approach uses education and community organizing as a major tool in accomplishing its goals of resource protection, habitat rehabilitation, and poverty alleviation (Rivera and Newkirk 1997). These disadvantaged groups, mostly small-scale fishers and other extractive users, are directly affected by management initiatives such as ìno takeî marine protected areas. Educational efforts attempt to assist various stakeholders in negotiating the imposition of restrictions on fishing and similar extractive activities in marine protected areas. A recent Haribon Foundation report estimated the number of MPAs established in the Philippines to be about 460 of which only around 6% are fully protected (Pajaro et al.1999).   Institutional mandates in and components of CRM Various government agencies are involved in coastal management. These agencies implement various mandates that sometimes overlap. For example, both DA and DENR are involved in the establishment of marine protected areas; the former historically assuming such a function through the issuance of Fisheries Administrative Orders, and the latter through the more recent National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) program (DENR 1992). CRMP (1997) listed the following mandates of agencies involved in coastal management in the Philippines:  (Please see Appendix 1 for a list of acronyms) Policy formulation (LGU, FARMC, NGA, DENR) (see CRMP-Philippines' web site for complete texts of Philippine coastal laws) Resource assessments: coastal (DA-BFAR, DENR, PCAMRD); marine (DA-BFAR, DENR, PCAMRD) Statistics gathering and compilation: fisheries (DA-BAS); mangroves (DENR); fishponds (DA-BFAR) Establishment of protected areas (LGU, DA-BFAR, DENR, Congress) Mangrove reforestation (LGU, DENR) Fishery licensing: municipal waters (LGU); offshore waters (DA-BFAR) Fishery law enforcement (LGU-PNP, PCG, DA-BFAR, deputies) Pollution law enforcement (LGU, PCG, DENR) Land use management (LGU, DENR) Tourism management (LGU, DOT) Reclamation (DENR (LMB and EMB), PEA) Pollution monitoring, including marine waters (LGU, DENR-EMB, PCG) Establishment of municipal/fishing ports (PFDA, PPA, LGU) Research (DA-BFAR, DA-BAR, DOTC-PCAMRD) (CRMP 1997, 3-16). The following components were identified from past and ongoing CRM projects and programs in the Philippines: Socio-economic profiling  Physico-chemical-biological profiling Stock assessment and population dynamics Community organizing Environmental scanning/rapid resources appraisal Environmental assessment and monitoring using standardized methodologies Education and training and other capability-building strategies Policy development and advocacy (national and local) Livelihood development/entrepreneurship Strategic planning  Institutional development (government reorganizations in structure and functions to accommodate CRM)  Infrastructure development (fish processing plants/ice plants) Aquaculture development (seaweed farming; mariculture) Research Fisheries regulation and other regulatory activities (Fisheries Code of 1998; local/municipal ordinances) Tourism development (development of the National Tourism Master Plan). Particular successes and lessons learned A participatory approach to CRM (community-based) is especially manifest in the establishment of artificial reefs and marine protected areas. A recent evaluation of a number of this type of coastal management projects indicated the following lessons learned from this experience:   Evaluations of project success by project staff and beneficiaries vary probably because they use different criteria. Early and continuous participation of project beneficiaries in project planning and implementation is related to their positive evaluation of impacts. Positive cultural attitudes toward the efficacy of collective action were consistently related to perceptions of positive change. Mobilizing people for collective action is a time-consuming process that requires the presence of committed, competent, and people-oriented project personnel, and a shared understanding of project objectives by both the cooperators and the project personnel. Capability-building efforts enhance the perception of empowerment and sense of confidence of project cooperators to undertake new tasks and to meet current and future challenges. Project cooperators, as well as non-cooperators perceive positive changes in the impact indicators. User rights to material interventions must be specified and enforced. The data indicate that fishers like their occupation and would not necessarily change to another job, suggesting that supplemental, rather than alternative, occupations may be the most effective (Pomeroy et al. 1996). The attitude of fishers in the last lesson listed above may also be further understood in the context of most villages in the Philippines having a considerable number of families with one or more members working in urban areas in the country or overseas. These workers send home funds that subsidize livelihood activities including fishing by other members of the household. There is now a substantial body of knowledge and experience in coastal management in the country on which can be based the formulation of a national policy in coastal management for the Philippines. Based on experiences elsewhere, national policies on ICM were developed to provide broad goals and standards to guide the widespread adoption of CRM in the country while leaving room for flexibility in the choice of site-specific activities and techniques. The national policy should provide for budgetary allocations to support CRM initiatives by local government units and the functioning of various forms of advisory bodies (e.g., national multi-sectoral, multi-disciplinary advisory body with a secretariat or support staff based in an existing government agency). This policy should also provide for the establishment of mechanisms to avoid duplication of efforts among agencies involved in CRM, to develop strategies on how to improve the transferability of lessons learned and techniques already developed, and to build on existing CRM programs. It will also be desirable to provide for the development of mechanisms that address global and regional environmental trends and concerns such as climate change, food security, biodiversity, and marine pollution. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has started this process. However, it is important to emphasize the need to involve all sectors and stakeholders concerned in the development of this national law. The ongoing USAID-funded CRMP has come up with an analysis of the legal and jurisdictional aspects of coastal resources management in the Philippines which has been useful in guiding the development of a draft Executive Order providing for a national policy in CRM. A careful evaluation of past and ongoing CRM programs and projects would be very useful to policy makers in determining which goals need to be incorporated and prioritized in the policy and which strategies could be realistically implemented in the country.   References Abregana, B.P.G. Barber, M. Maxino, P. Sanders and D. VanderZwaag. 1996. Legal challenges for local management of marine resources: a Philippine study. Environment and Resource Management Project (ERMP) Philippines, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and College, Laguna, Philippines.  Alcala, A.C., M.S. Dy-Liaco and L.C. Alcala. 1991. Benthic lifeform composition of two coral reef sites in the Central Visayas, Philippines, p. 69-74. In A.C. Alcala (ed.) Proceedings of the Regional Symposium on Living Resources and Coastal Areas. Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines. Coastal Resources Management Program (CRMP). 1997. Legal and jurisdictional guidebook for coastal resource management in the Philippines. Department of Environment and Natural Resources; Department of Interior and Local Government; Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources; and Coastal Resources Management Project (CRMP), Philippines. Coastal Resources Management Program (CRMP). 1999. An endangered coastal environment [online]. Available: www.oneocean.org/about_crmp/where_we_are.html Corrales, R.A. and E.D. Gomez. 1990. Red tide outbreaks and their management in the Philippines, p. 453-458. E. Graneli et al. (Eds.) Toxic Marine Phytoplankton. Elsevier Publishing Co. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). 1992. NIPAS Act implementing rules and regulations. Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau, DENR, Quezon City, Philippines. 38 p. Eleazar, F. and C. Castro. Community-based Resource Management Program. Presentation given during a Workshop on the Development of ICM Course for Local Government Units, December 14-15, 1999. Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development, Los Baños, Philippines. Ferrer, E.M. 1992.  Learning and working together towards a community-based coastal resources management.  Research and Extension for Development Office, College of Social Work and Community Development, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City. Gomez, E.D., A.C. Alcala and A.C. San Diego. 1981. Status of Philippine coral reefs - 1981, p. 275-282. In E.D. Gomez, C.E. Birkeland, R.W. Buddemeier, R.E. Johannes, J.A. Marsh Jr. and R.T. Tsuda (eds.) The reef and man. Proceedings of the Fourth International Coral Reef Symposium. Vol. 1. Marine Sciences Center, University of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines. Licuanan, W.Y. 1991. Temporal changes in the cover of life forms in Puerto Galera, Mindoro Island, Western Philippines: preliminary results, p. 87-96. In A.C. Alcala (ed.) Proceedings of the Regional Symposium on Living Resources and Coastal Areas. Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines. Pajaro, M., F. Olano and B. San Juan. 1999. Documentation and review of marine protected areas in the Philippines: a preliminary report. Haribon Foundation for the Conservation of Natural Resources, Manila, Philippines.  Pauly, D., G. Silvestre and I.R. Smith. 1989. On development, fisheries and dynamite: a brief review of tropical fisheries management. Nat. Resour. Modeling 3:307-329. Pomeroy, R.S., R.B. Pollnac, C.D. Predo and B.M. Katon. 1996. Impact evaluation of community-based coastal resource management projects in the Philippines. Naga, the ICLARM Quarterly 19(4):9-12. Rivera, R. and G.F. Newkirk. 1997. Power from the people: a documentation of non-governmental organizationsí experience in community-based coastal resource management in the Philippines. Ocean and Coastal Management 36(1-3):73-95. Vallejo, B. Jr. An overview of the Philippine marine aquarium fish industry. International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management, Makati City, Philippines. 12 p.   Appendix 1. List of acronyms   CB-CRM Community-based Coastal Resources Management CEP Coastal Environment Program CRM Coastal Resources Management CRMP Coastal Resource Management Program DA-BAR Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research DA-BAS Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Statistics DA-BFAR Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources DENR-EMB Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau DENR-LMB  Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Lands Management Bureau  DOST-PCAMRD Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development  DOT Department of Tourism FARMC Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council FRMP Fisheries Resource Management Project ICM Integrated Coastal Management LGU Local Government Unit LGU-PNP Local Government Unit-Philippine National Police MPA Marine Protected Area NGA Non-government Agency PCG Philippine Coast Guard PEA Philippine Estate Authority PFDA Philippine Fisheries Development Authority PPA Philippine Port Authority USAID United States Agency for International Development   Other Links Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center Aquaculture Department's (SEAFDEC-AQD) research on community fishery resources management The Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development's (PCAMRD) Integrated Coastal Resources Management Program The Coastal Resources Management Project's (CRMP) web site. CRMP is a 7-year (1996-2001) project funded by the USAID which aims to provide technical assistance and training to local governments and communities in coastal resources management.  The Haribon Foundation for the Conservation of Natural Resources' programs on Community-Based Resource Management; Research; Capability-Building; Environmental Law; and Advocacy Tambuyog Development Center's Sustainable Coastal Area Development Programme Silliman University's Center of Excellence in Coastal Resources Management University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute The Coral Reef Information Network of the Philippines (PhilReefs) The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) "Blue Environment" programs; includes information on DENR's Coastal Environment Program   Prepared by Miriam C. Balgos/Center for the Study of Marine Policy, University of Delaware   (top)

www.globaloceans.org