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| taken from jaypeeneutron.ph |
A new Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the marine waters of Barangay Sinapsapan, municipality of Jordan in Guimaras island-province has been declared a new marine protected area.
Through Municipal Ordinance No. 004-2017, the marine waters from Sitio Casita until Sitio Balingasag from the said barangay will now be protected.
It covers a total area of 24.49633 hectares.
The people of Barangay Sinapsapan, during the public consultation held on July 15, 2016 and January 18, 2017 unanimously agreed to establish the said MPA. Within the core zone of the MPA, fishing of any kind or manner or collecting of shellfish shall not be permitted, and anchoring of all kinds of boats without an anchor buoy is not allowed.
The ordinance likewise provides that the area will be exempted or restricted from construction of any permanent structure made of concrete materials. Destruction, stealing and vandalizing of buoys, signage and guardhouse structures are strictly prohibited.
Further, the navigation or passage of all boats and all eco-tourism activities shall be regulated.
Conversely, the Province of Guimaras is taking great strides in implementing efforts on conserving and protecting marine resources and coastal marine habitats.
Almost all sectors have forged an agreement recently to protect the MPAs in Guimaras through a network called GAPAS or the Guimaras Alliance of Protected Areas and Sanctuaries. The Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and representatives of the towns of Guimaras namely, Buenavista, Jordan, San Lorenzo, Nueva Valencia and Sibunag.
National government agency heads, people organizations representatives and the academe likewise signed the said agreement.The signing is “expected to strengthen the commitment of the parties to effectively reduce the stress and the threats to the marine ecosystems in Guimaras” through the budget allocation of P21 billion.
Meanwhile, in his speech during the Induction of Environmental Planners by PH Institute of Environmental Planners (PIEP) recently, Guimaras Governor Samuel T. Gumarin cited the importance of protecting water and marine resources. “Our country has more water jurisdictions than land territory for we are in an archipelagic state. Our marine resources will predictably assume the higher factor of sustainable economic development in the future – the very reason why our coastal resources have to be protected and managed,” he underscored.
Environment concerns are embedded in the Provincial Development and Physical Framework Plan (PDPFP), the long term developmental blueprint of the province. Likewise, new elements have been incorporated to enhance the provincial development vision of Guimaras considering the province’s potentials; one of which is ‘eco-tourism’.
‘Eco’ for ecology is as a mantra for binding consideration of environmental protection on all developmental endeavors with our economic drivers, agriculture, fishery, tourism and services strengthened. For 2017-2022, identified priority development agenda are set and all aligned to the enhanced provincial vision which is to be the “agri-eco-tourism capital of the region with empowered, self-reliant, resilient and healthy families enjoying a progressive economy and safe environment anchored on the principles of sustainable development”.
Moreover, the establishment of community-based marine reserves and protected areas in the Philippines follows a well-defined procedure which employs community organizing, education and leadership development as a means to addressing societal problems facing politically and economically marginalized communities.
Several community consultations and workshops were facilitated by the Municipal Agriculture Office of Jordan in collaboration with Guimaras Environment and Natural Resources Office and the Provincial Department of Environment and Natural Resources Office to plan and implement the Sinapsapan Marine Reserve.
The community identified the following goals they wish to achieve through the Marine Reserve’s establishment, to wit: to protect and rehabilitate critical marine habitat and thereby increase fish catch, to establish sustainable and effective governance for the management and enforcement, to implement sustainable livelihood programs for the community.
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