RP coastal ecosystems on brink of extinction

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.