2 Provinces of Palawan declared as Largest Marine Protected Area

Bird’s eye-view of Cagancillo, one of the provinces billed as the Largest Marine Protected Area. Image from paulhechanova of www.panoramio.com

Both provinces of Palawan, the offshore waters and coastal of Cagayancillo, with 1,013,340 hectares, and 80,000 hectares of Aborlan were declared as the Largest Marine Protected Area–the largest one to date, as reported by WhenInManila.com last Sunday, November 20, 2016.

The Philippines is heading to end a great year as World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Foundation Segre joined forces for their initiative not only to protect marine biodiversity, but also to replenish stocks for fishermen through proper zoning allocated areas for fishing. The move also benefits local fishermen and communities in the management of marine resources by helping them gain exclusive rights to fisheries located in or near Marine Protected Areas (MPA) and by working with them to improve the health and productivity of their fisheries. With this initiative, it can preserve the existing marine ecosystems and attract tourism as well.

MPA is essentially a space in the ocean where human activities are more strictly regulated than the surrounding waters. It can also be interpreted as a special area for recreation or to sustain commercial use.

As of 2016, the project of WWF and its allies are protecting 904,000 hectares of MPA’s in the Philippines

 

Sources: When in Manila, Protect Planet Ocean