Conservation

(To view a summary of the details of the map, describing the location, type, and area covered by the MPAs shown, click here.) MAps/UEGIS Maps/pdf/Marine_Protected_Areav2.pdf DA-BFAR’s map of the marine protected areas in the Philippines. [...] (Source: bfar.da.gov.ph) The significant discrepancy in the numbers of effectively managed MPAs in the country is mostly attributed to poor governance and enforcement, the subsistence requirements of the immediate local communities (mostly poverty-influenced, as well), and inadequate financing and resource support. [...] Where effective, however, certain implementations of the MPA system in the Philippines have proven notably successful, such as in the cases of the “no-take zone” of Sumilon Island in Cebu, the extensive seahorse protection measures of Jandayan Island in Bohol, and the abalone-based protection system of the Sagay Marine Reserve in Negros Occidental. [...] The Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion (SSME) In 2004, the Philippines took part in a transboundary initiative involving Indonesia and Malaysia that established the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion (SSME), based on the meeting of the Contracting Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity. [...] The SSME established the combined marine areas located at the apex of the Coral Triangle region as a commonly protected area, supported by a network of stakeholders who share long-term concern for the location’s abundant, yet highly threatened biodiversity resources.