Provincial Planing & Development Office
Kalibo, Aklan

From a threatened ecosystem, Aklan marine resources are now coming back in shape. And although not as fast as every environment-loving people wish it to be, tomorrow is looking good for the once dying coastal resources in the province of Aklan.

Schools of damsels and basslets on a cliff covered with feather stars and corals.

This piece of good news only features the attempts of one foreign group, the German Development Service (Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst or DED), working tirelessly in close coordination with the Provincial Government of Aklan to rise the challenge of strengthen Coastal Resource Management (CRM) in the province, implement and ecologically evaluate marine protected areas, educate on CRM in coastal fishing communities and schools, as well as in drawing-up locally suitable livelihood alternatives to uplift the socio-economic life of local fishing communities.

This project involves a comprehensive network with provincial line agencies, such as the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Philippine National Police, the Provincial Technical Working Group on Coastal Resource Management and, the active participation of Aklan State University.

With this integrated coastal zone management program covering 11 coastal municipalities with about 30,000 households along the 155 km long coastline of the province, local executives had been able to maximize the assistance extended by the German group given for the preservation of the province's marine resources in exploring both limits and extent of local government management in regards to preserving marine life.

A video transect is taken inside an MPA to assess its ecological status.

A video transect is taken by Dr. Kai Kühlmann inside an MPA to assess its ecological status.

Without this foreign group, headed by Dr. Kai-J. Kühlmann, a volunteer consultant on Aquaculture and Integrated Coastal Zone Management of the DED, who appears to be more concerned than anyone else in preserving the province's coastal resources which bring millions in revenues in the past years and a primary source of livelihood for coastal barangays in many of Aklan municipalities, one can't imagine how the gargantuan task of preserving it may become insurmountable especially given the government's limited local resources and a usually lethargic bureaucracy.

Terrestrial run-off and destructive fishing methods often resulted in massive death of once vast and productive coral reefs. Here: A remaining hard coral colony encrusting on died off coral rock.

Few years back, it was an entirely different scenario as environmental studies and observations of the coastal residents show an alarming rate of siltation caused by denuded watershed areas, mangrove deforestation, and harmful farming and fishing practice, aggravated by pollution caused by agricultural and aquacultural practices like the use of pesticides and from industrial and domestic effluents. Also, violation of fishery laws such as the use of fine meshed and skimming nets and the lack of zoning of bays in some municipalities for resource users contribute to the ecological problem.

In fact, environmental experts, few years back, declared the province's coastal resources an endangered eco-system as local fisherfolks admitted a steady decline of their produce.

Participants of the Aklan Fisheries Management Workshop, held in Kalibo, Aklan, December 4-5, 2003.

Highlights of this integrated coastal zone management program include the holding of educational course on CRM where capable individuals from every coastal town of the province are trained on basics in coastal resources, their management and evaluation. Besides ecological and technical aspects on coral reef evaluation, they were given the possibility to familiarize themselves with monitoring mechanisms and backgrounds in basic aquaculture management techniques, which will serve as approaches for livelihood alternatives, suitably managed in small-scale under local conditions.

Province-wide planning workshops, coastal surveys, environmental awareness seminars, and consultative meetings on fishery law enforcement and boundary delineations, as well as livelihood alternatives were also conducted for the refinement of each coastal town's management plans of their marine protected area.

Manta tows provide rapid information on ecological conditions of MPA's.

Ecological evaluation of marine protected areas and artificial reef construction took center stage during the calm weather conditions. The work at sea consisted of manta tows and transect-dives inside the marine protected areas. The first manta-tow was accomplished in the Municipality of Buruanga before transect-dives were conducted to determine the coral conditions and biodiversity of coral reef profiles. Further manta-tows were then conducted in the municipalities of Malay, Nabas, Ibajay, Tangalan, Numancia, Makato, Kalibo, New Washington and Altavas while further transecting-dives were conducted in Malay, Nabas, Ibajay, and Tangalan.

This initial success in protecting marine conservation was made possible through the organized collaboration of affected communities led by their local governments with the financial backing of sectors like that of the German Development Service. It was indeed a crucial ingredient in the success of this project in protecting Aklan bays and coastal resources against environmental neglect.

Local fishers, teachers and planners share their experiences in CRM-related discussions.

To further its gains, a steady-state integrated network carried out under the provincial government of Aklan and actively participated by all coastal stakeholders which are represented in the Provincial Technical Working Group on Coastal Resource Management, shall contribute to build up coastal management awareness to further disseminate started projects to future generations.

Given the autonomy and the wider latitude accorded to local governments under the Local Government Code, the management of local governments especially in its coastal resource management program demands depth and vision, capability and determination, creativity and boldness coupled with more innovative and audacious approaches and strategies. With the established support of the German Development Service working with various line agencies of the government, there's no way this project will bound to fail.

Honestly, I have not been interested with what is happening with our marine resources until I have seen with my own eyes the beauty of it in a recent sortie in Tangalan bay's 375 ha marine protected area which houses the 10 ha coral garden with the artificial reef. It's very distinct, full of life and growing. And, the more than 50 specie of fish, which live on it, are really marvelous.

Text: Vince Acevedo, Panay News Journalist.

Photos: Dr. Kai-J. Kühlmann & Eric Ritcher, DED Consultants.

Black Dotted Sand Perch (Parapercis millepunctata), fast growing staghorn or flower corals (Acropora sp.), the clown fish "Nemo” (Amphiprion sp.), encrusting growing coral (Pachyseris sp).

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