NOW that Bohol island has been named one of five provinces as global geoparks by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), salvaging the Danajon Double Barrier Reefs (DDBR) from further degradation is being intensified as reportedly ordered by Gov. Aris Aumentado.
Unabated illegal fishing, over-exploitation of marine resources and lack of coordination among LGUs prompted the Capitol leadership with the Bohol Danajon Double Barrier Reefs Management Council to form the Save Danajon project.
The move is also seen as a preparatory for the reefs to be considered as protected seascape, which is mentioned by the UNESCO as one of the components of being a global geopark.
It is expected that the fate of the reefs will be tackled by the governor during his State of the Province Address (SOPA) on July22, 2023.
“This is a CCEF-initiative project, in collaboration with DENR, the Provincial Government of Bohol, Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), Educational institutions, and Bohol LGUs, funded by the United States Agency for International Development and the Gerry Roxas Foundation to enhance community and government involvement in protecting the Danajon Bank Double Barrier Reef,” according to the press statement of the Provincial Information and Media office.
It will be recalled that the provincial government of Bohol, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and local government units (LGUs) concerned signed the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) sometime in September of last year.
The move is an attempt to revive the provincial DDBR Management Council which have been in hiatus for few years since the signing of the same document in the inter-provincial level of management, known as CeLeBoSoLe sometime in 2013.
The MOA signing was driven by the fact that destructive fishing means, the marine productivity decline, habitat damage and weak law enforcement still prevail.
There was the so-called CeLeBoSoLe stands for Cebu, Leyte, Bohol and Southern Leyte. These provinces covered the area where the DDBR is situated, but apparently it is nearer in Bohol than in other province mentioned.
Like his father, the late Gov. Erico Aumentado, Gov. Aris Aumetnado expressed grave concern over the situation on the DDBR and this must be protected furthermore. He told the initial council meeting that he also wanted to reactivate the CeLeBoSoLe.
“This is an important aspect in the protection and conservation of our marine resources,” Aumentado said.
PROTECTED AREA
It will be recalled that then Congressman Erico Aumentado filed House Bill 5145 seeking to put the Danajon Double Barrier Reef (DDBR) a protected area under the category of a natural park.
Aumentado said that Danajon Bank as the only double barrier reef in the Philippines and one of the only six documented double barrier reefs in the world.
The former governor warned that unless the reef is protected the situation could further deteriorate “until this status became endangered by illegal fishing, poaching of corals, rapid population growth and other destructive activities in the area.”
“It is imperative that the DDBR be declared a protected area under the category of a natural park pursuant to Republic Act 7586 or the National Integrated Protected Area System (NIPAS) Act, to protect and preserve it, considering its enormous revenue generating potential for ecotourism and biodiversity of marine resources vital to the fishing industry and food security,” Aumentado said.
The proposed law would ban the following: (1) possession or use of blasting caps, explosives or cyanides within the DDBR or its buffer zone; (2) fishing, hunting, collecting, catching, capturing, wounding, killing, destroying, transporting or possessing and any disturbance of protected species of corals, plants and animals; (3) disposal or dumping of non-biodegradable, toxic, hazardous materials and other prohibited substances; (4) fishing using spear and submerged underwater breathing apparatus, trawling equipment or any other equipment prohibited by the Fisheries Code of 1998; and (5) alteration, removal, destruction of boundary marks or signs and coral reefs.
DDBR RICHES
“It is a unique geological formation which has been carved for over 6,000 years of coral development, hence, it is a larger and better-defined structure than other known double barrier reefs in the world,” the former congressman said.
With a total shoreline of 691 kilometers, the DDBR consists of the Caubyan Outer Reef and the Calituban Inner Reef. Caubyan of Cebu spans towards Southern Leyte, while Calituban Reef of Bohol stretches up to Maasin City.
It is one of the only six in the world and the only documented in the country and in the SouthEast Asia with 272-km long, 699 kms of coastline and has 27,200 hectares.
DDBR represents over one percent of the total coral reef in the country.
The Danajon is also known in some islands nearby as “Dawahon.” It was not known how the Danajon was derived.
The reef is the home of the third largest seaweed producing province in the country and the largest man-made mangrove plantation in Asia. (rvo)
