One of the biggest challenges facing the marine scientist community is the need to combine protection of receding marine ecosystems and sustainable exploitation of marine resources. No region in the world better illustrates this urgency than the Coral Triangle. Known as the epicentre of marine biodiversity, it is also highly impacted by overfishing and destructive fishing practices. The Philippines, located in its centre, is using Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) as a priority mechanism to protect and revitalize degraded coral reefs and associated fishery resources. Today, 1800 marine parks and reserves have been established. But how successful are they?
The performance of an MPA can be characterized by its ecological success, the effectiveness of its management, and the support of the associated coastal communities. We evaluated these three aspects in four MPAs of South-eastern Mindanao. To do so, (1) we used the Management Effectiveness Assessment Tool (MEAT); (2) we reviewed available reports from biophysical assessments, and investigated occurrence of target fish species spill-over by looking at spatial fishing effort distribution; (3) we conducted surveys and key-informant interviews within local fishing communities.
Notwithstanding inconsistent enforcement, questionable design and limited monitoring, we found that coastal communities were highly supportive of the local MPAs; the apparent trust in their potential to improve reef resources should prompt local managers and national agencies to strive for improved practices.
