BCRMTF calls for PAs, MPAs’

Protection for food security

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, May 8 (PIA)—When communities can hardly go out of the homes for the Month of the Ocean activities supposedly set for May, members of the Bohol Coastal law Enforcement and Management Task Force (BCRMTF) takes sustainable seas advocacy higher by surfing the net. 

Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer Charlie Fabre, who sent Marcial Ugay to the Kapihan sa PIA wants to reiterate on coastal protection and marine conservation and in times when there is limited movement, creatively adopting to situation while disseminating information can be done by anyone. 

On this, BCRMTF members urge communities to do the little bit they can share, in the PAra sa Tao: Protected Areas for a Protected Future theme for this year’s Month of the Ocean. 

Things as simple as going off from single use plastic, or simply keeping the non-biodegradable trash in a containers so it can’t be blown by the wind, scattered by stray dogs, and in these times when most families have turned to backyard gardening in the midst of home quarantines, going organic and away from chemical fertilizers is already a huge accomplishment for the ocean, says Venisse Shalome Molina, DENR information officer. 

The shampoo that you got from that plastic sachet, the tetra-pack where that juice you drink comes, the, seasoning bottles, plastic warps, if you do not properly stow them, the wind or rain will wash them away and carry them somehow, get them to the coasts, where these can kills seagrass beds, corals and marine life, Molina said. 

The trash will certainly affect our marine sanctuaries, our protected areas where we get our sustainable supply of proteins through the fish in our tables, adds Jose Garcia of Bohol Environment Management Office speaking for their head Jovencia Ganub. 

For the millennials, aside from sharing the Month of the Ocean streamer, you can also help commemorate by posting your photos of beaches and sea scapes you have been into and put in the hashtag #MonthOfTheOCean or #MOO2020, Molina added. 

This year, BCRMTF swings its attention to the protected areas (PAs) in Bohol and making sure their protection continues for secure future for the generations to come. 

Of Bohol’s total land area, some 548,156.62 hectares have been declared as marine protected areas (MPAs), some of them in the legislated protected areas and imbedded in the seas within the areas under the National Integrated Protected Areas Systems, shared DENR’s Ugay. 

The MPAs, some of them well within the protected areas managed by the a multi-sectoral Protected Area Management Board, are also co-managed by people’s organizations and fishermen’s groups, are literally strung all over Bohol. 

According to BEMO’s Garcia, Bohol now has 174 MPAs, all having different levels of stocks inventory. 

Then a contentious issue among small and marginal fishermen and legislators, the MPAs are identified and selected based on present stocks and its features which could be conducive to fish and marine life production and reproduction, and includes sea grassbeds, where fish conveniently shelter, where access is limited if not fully restricted so as not to drive the fish away, explains Bohol Fishery Officer Conrado Samijon. 

While many see the access restriction negatively, the safety of brood stocks and breeders inside the marked MPAs assure continuous reproduction, and when there is over population in the MPAs, fish would usually move out to the buffer-zones where marginal fishers can catch them for food. 

Most communities with well managed MPAs agree that fish stocks have come back to their usual density years back, and fishing is not as hard as then. 

Aside from the 174 MPAs which the Bureau of Fisheries and local governments also seed abalones, giant clams and mussels, Bohol has also large protected areas like the legislated Talibon Group of Islands Protected Landscape, Panglao Island Protected Seascapes and Alburquerque-Loay-Loboc Protected Landscape and Seascapes, which has kept the clustered Coastal Law Enforcement busy guarding from poachers and illegal fishers. 

All because we need to protect these protected areas and assure food security for our future generations, Ugay closed. (rahchiu/PIA-7/Bohol) 

PROTECTING THE PROTECTED AREAS. With Bohol increasing in population and with still some issues on irresponsible and over-use of resources, even with 10% of its land area allocated for protection so Bohol could keep patches of its unique environment, securing sustainable food has been aided by the declared marine protected areas (MPAs), some of them in the legislated protected areas and imbedded in the seas within the areas under the National Integrated Protected Areas Systems, shared DENR’s Marcial Ugay at Kapihan sa PIA. He stressed on the need for communities to help protect these protected areas, as the country celebrates Month of the Ocean. (rahchiu/PIA-7/Bohol) 

SUSTAINING FISH SANCTUARY NETWORKS. Bohol Environment Management Office representative Jose Garcia shared that with 174 marine protected areas in Bohol, empowering communities to protect their food sources is crucial in sustaining fish security. (rahchiu/PIA-76/Bohol) 

SPREADING OCEAN ADVOCACY THROUGH SURFING. DENR information Officer Venisse Shalome Molina urges millennials to help spread the good news about the Ocean Month by uploading in social media accounts pictures of the seas, while communities are unable to do commemorative activities. She also called for communities to do their share of keeping their plastic trash so they wont get carried to the seas and poison the environment there. (rahchiu/PIA-7/Bohol)