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THAILAND
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Philippines |
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RP coastal ecosystems
on brink of extinction |
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Source: Inquirer |
Author: Henrylito D. Tacio |
Date: 1999-05-15 |
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SEAGRASS beds cover an
estimated area of about five
million hectares.
The intertidal zone mangroves are also facing the same
distinction. Mangrove cover_estimated to be about 450,000
hectares in the early 1900s_was reduced at a rate of 3,115
hectares between 1918 and 1970.
"If the reduction of mangroves continues at the pre-'70s rate,
there will only be 18,170 hectares left in the year 2030," said Roy
Olsen D. De Leon of the Silliman University Marine Laboratory
(SUML) in Dumaguete City.
Prof. Nicomedes Briones of the UP-Los Ba?os School for
Environmental Science and Management said recently that
about 120,400 hectares of mangrove forest remained in 1994.
"Mangroves are still steadily decreasing although at a much
slower rate than in the last two decades," said Prof. Briones
during the RP-Japan Seminar on Minamata Disease in Manila.
The destruction of the country's coastal ecosystems are mainly
caused by human activities. Take the case of mangroves, whose
rapid decrease occurred during the 1960s and 1970s when
government policies encouraged the expansion of aquaculture.
Today, fishponds cover about 289,000 hectares, 80-90 percent
of which are in areas once covered with mangroves.
"This expansion occurred largely during a period when real
prices for fish and shrimp were steadily rising," De Leon of the
SUML reported.
Cutting of mangroves for fuel wood, charcoal making and
construction is the second most pervasive intrusion on
mangroves.
"The demand for these products leads to illegal cutting,
overharvesting, and subsequent degradation of the habitat and
ecosystem," De Leon said.
Land use conversion, pollution, irresponsible tourism and
souvenir collection have been cited as the culprits of the
degradation of the country's coral reefs.
"Changes in land use--such as forest clearance and
intensification of agriculture--increased soil erosion," explained
Gregory Ira of the International Institute of Rural
Reconstruction (IIRR) based in Silang, Cavite.
Sewage and agricultural fertilizers--both often reaching the
sea--can also damage reefs. Many other wastes from factories,
towns and ships are also discharged at sea where they may
poison corals and other reef life.
Millions of tourists visit coral reefs each year.
However, corals are easily broken by trampling when people
walk on the reef. Snorkelers and divers may kill polyps simply
by touching the coral colonies and anchors and ship
groundings can destroy large areas of reef.
Seagrass also experience destruction by human activities.
"Seagrass beds are under pressure due to the basic need of
human beings for food production, transportation, waste
disposal, living space and recreation," said marine biologist
Ingrid Gevers, who once worked with the European project in
Western Samar.
Human activities such as industrialization, development of
recreational areas along the coast, dredge and fill operations
have also led to the decline of seagrass beds.
Pollution has also taken its toll. Sewage and domestic wastes
from municipalities are carried by rivers into the coastal areas.
Simultaneously, wastes from coastal communities are directly
dumped into the sea.
Meanwhile, the deterioration of mangrove resources have
stimulated various responses to slow and reverse the process.
National laws which prohibit the cutting of any mangroves in
the country have been passed. Policies have been suggested to
provide economic disincentives to the conversion of mangrove
forests for fishpond use.
"Since 1990, various community-based projects have engaged
coastal residents in reforestation, rehabilitation and
management efforts," reported De Leon, citing the Buswang
Mangrove Reforestation Project in Kalibo, Panay Island, as a
case in point.
"Here, the government contracted Kalibo Save the Mangrove
Association with 26 family beneficiaries, to replant 50 hectares,"
De Leon said. "Four years after the project started in 1990, the
organization was able to harvest and earn from the nipa leaves
on five hectares of the area."
On the other hand, the CRMP's White bats for a small but
well-managed marine reserve.
"With an average quality coral reef of at least one square
kilometer, a marine reserve can accrue significant economic
benefits to local community and tourism operators in terms of
increased fish yield ($8,000 per year); island-based tourism
($22,000 per year); and off-island tourism (more than $50,000 per
year)," White said.
"These facts all show the economic need to manage coastal
resources such as reef, mangroves and wetlands, beaches and
water quality," White added. "As these resources become
increasingly degraded, the economic loss and decreased quality
of life experienced by individuals, communities and society
continue to mount. These large losses will become more
obvious as we begin to pay to make the reparations required to
cover the health and quality of these coastal resources."
White concluded that the unfortunate reality is that prevention
of destruction is essentially free but the reparation and recovery
operations are extremely expensive--and they may not bring
back the original resource lost in its natural and most productive
form.
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