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National Committee on Marine Sciences (NCMS)

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    Increased coral larval supply enhances recruitment for coral and fish habitat restoration
    Harrison, Peter L.; dela Cruz, Dexter W.; Cameron, Kerry A.; Cabaitan, Patrick C. (Frontiers Media SA, 2021-12-01)
    Loss of foundation reef-corals is eroding the viability of reef communities and ecosystem function in many regions globally. Coral populations are naturally resilient but when breeding corals decline, larval supply becomes limiting and natural recruitment is insufficient for maintaining or restoring depleted populations. Passive management approaches are important but in some regions they are proving inadequate for protecting reefs, therefore active additional intervention and effective coral restoration techniques are needed. Coral spawning events produce trillions of embryos that can be used for mass larval rearing and settlement on degraded but recoverable reef areas. We supplied 4.6 million Acropora tenuis larvae contained in fine mesh enclosures in situ on three degraded reef plots in the northwestern Philippines during a five day settlement period to initiate restoration. Initial mean larval settlement was very high (210.2 ± 86.4 spat per tile) on natural coral skeleton settlement tiles in the larval-enhanced plots, whereas no larvae settled on tiles in control plots. High mortality occurred during early post-settlement life stages as expected, however, juvenile coral survivorship stabilised once colonies had grown into visible-sized recruits on the reef by 10 months. Most recruits survived and grew rapidly, resulting in significantly increased rates of coral recruitment and density in larval-enhanced plots. After two years growth, mean colony size reached 11.1 ± 0.61 cm mean diameter, and colonies larger than 13 cm mean diameter were gravid and spawned, the fastest growth to reproductive size recorded for broadcast spawning corals. After three years, mean colony size reached 17 ± 1.7 cm mean diameter, with a mean density of 5.7 ± 1.25 colonies per m–2, and most colonies were sexually reproductive. Coral cover increased significantly in larval plots compared with control plots, primarily from A. tenuis recruitment and growth. Total production cost for each of the 220 colonies within the restored breeding population after three years was United States $17.80 per colony. A small but significant increase in fish abundance occurred in larval plots in 2018, with higher abundance of pomacentrids and corallivore chaetodontids coinciding with growth of A. tenuis colonies. In addition, innovative techniques for capturing coral spawn slicks and larval culture in pools in situ were successfully developed that can be scaled-up for mass production of larvae on reefs in future. These results confirm that enhancing larval supply significantly increases settlement and coral recruitment on reefs, enabling rapid re-establishment of breeding coral populations and enhancing fish abundance, even on degraded reef areas.
    We thank the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) for funding this research: grant ACIAR/FIS/2014/063 to PH, PC and J. Bennett. Thanks to ACIAR staff Chris Barlow, Ann Fleming, and Mai Alagcan for their ongoing support. Sincere thanks to the Galsim Family for use of Tanduyong Island as a field research base during the coral restoration fieldwork. We also thank staff and students at the Bolinao Marine Laboratory, Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines, Diliman for their assistance with reef work: Elizabeth Gomez, Charlon Ligson, Rickdane Gomez and Fernando Castrence (including fish surveys), Marcos Ponce, Joey Cabasan, Sheldon Boco, Gabriel de Guzman, Albert Ponce, and Allan Abuan. We also thank Grant Cameron for field support and helping design, build and refine the prototype floating spawn catcher frames in 2016 and 2017.
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    Sedimentary blue carbon dynamics based on chronosequential observations in a tropical restored mangrove forest
    Ray, Raghab; Suwa, Rempei; Miyajima, Toshihiro; Munar, Jeffrey; Yoshikai, Masaya; San Diego-McGlone, Maria Lourdes; Nadaoka, Kazuo (Copernicus GmbH, 2023-03-03)
    Among the many ecosystem services provided by mangroves, the sequestration of large amounts of organic carbon (OC) in marine ecosystems (also known as “blue carbon”) has given these unique ecological environments enormous global attention. While there are many studies on the blue carbon potential of intact mangroves (i.e., naturally growing), there have been very few studies on restored mangroves (i.e., planted). This study aims to address this knowledge gap by examining the sediment development process during the early colonization (rehabilitation) of mangroves in an OC-poor estuary in Panay Island, Philippines. Based on source apportionment of multiple end-members in the sedimentary organic matter, the contribution of mangrove plant material was higher at the older sites compared to the younger sites or bare sediments where there is a higher contribution of riverine input. A clear increasing gradient according to mangrove development was observed for bulk OC (0.06–3.4 µ mol g−1, porewater OC (292–2150 µmol L−1, sedimentary OC stocks (3.13–77.4 Mg C ha−1), and OC loading per surface area (7–223 µmol m−2). The estimated carbon accumulation rates (6–33 mol m−2 yr−1) based on chronosequence are within the global ranges and show an increasing pattern with the age of mangroves. Hence, the sediments of relatively young mangrove forests appear to be a significant potential C sink, and short-term chronosequence-based observations can efficiently define the importance of mangrove restoration programs as a potential carbon sequestration pathway.
    We are grateful to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) through the Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development (SATREPS) program for financially supporting the project Comprehensive Assessment and Conservation of Blue Carbon Ecosystems and their Services in the Coral Triangle (Blue CARES). We thank Jesus Abad, John Michael Aguilar, Dominic Bautista, Bryan C. Hernandez, and Tsuyoshi Kanda for their assistance during field surveys. We are grateful for the overall support given to the project by the University of the Philippines, Diliman, and Aklan State University. We are thankful to our Blue CARES colleague Charissa Ferrera for the support in language edits. Finally, authors sincerely thank AE (Jack Middelburg) and the reviewers for their constructive comments that have greatly improved the revised version of the manuscript.
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    Maynilad, TV5, PHL Navy join intl coastal cleanup
    (Philippine Business Daily Mirror Publishing, Inc., 2022-09-24)
    Maynilad Water Services Inc. (Maynilad) participated in the 37th International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) drive, which was held simultaneously in different locations within the National Capital Region. The West Zone water concessionaire rallied volunteers from among its employees as well as from TV5 Network Inc., Cignal TV, Alagang Kapatid Foundation and the Philippine Navy’s Naval Reserve Command to assist in the cleanup drive, Maynilad said in a news release.
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    Boracay's restored wetland transferred to DENR, LGU
    Abad, Roderick L. (Philippine Business Daily Mirror Publishing, Inc., 2022-06-25)
    Timely to the celebration of Environment Month this June, the Aboitiz Group has turned over the rehabilitated Wetland No. 4 to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as part of its commitment to preserve and protect biodiversity and surroundings on Boracay Island. Now known as the Balabag Wetland Park, the one-hectare lagoon area in Barangay Balabag has been transformed into a linear urban park. “The Aboitiz Group’s contribution to Boracay’s rehabilitation is part of our commitment to co-create safe, empowered, and sustainable communities. As sustainability is a major part of our Great Transformation into the Philippines’ first techglomerate, we will continue to do our part to uplift and bring focus to environmentally and socially impactful initiatives for all our stakeholders,” said Sabin M. Aboitiz, president and CEO of Aboitiz Group.
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    SC: No violation of mandamus in dolomite dumping on bay
    San Juan, Joel R. (Philippine Business Daily Mirror Publishing, Inc., 2020-11-20)
    The Supreme Court has junked the petition of the Akbayan Citizens’ Action Party seeking to intervene in the Manila Bay case, with a plea to cite the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in contempt for dumping dolomite sand—said to be hazardous to health and the environment —on Manila Bay. In an En Banc resolution promulgated on November 17, 2020, the Court held that the case has been rendered final and executory and that its jurisdiction is limited only to the full implementation of the decision. Despite the dolomite sand controversy, the Court insisted that it has not found any violation of the continuing mandamus it issued more than 10 years ago mandating concerned government agencies to rehabilitate the Manila Bay.
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    Sen. Villar lauds DENR for efforts to help clean and save Manila Bay via solar-powered Sewage Treatment Plant
    (Philippine Business Daily Mirror Publishing, Inc., 2020-11-15)
    Recognizing the importance that Manila Bay serves for Filipinos, Senator Cynthia A. Villar underscored the importance of a Sewerage Treatment Plan (STP) to help clean and save the bay. This was in response to the plan of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to build the solar-powered Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) at Baywalk area in Malate, Manila. The STP, which is capable of catching and treating 500,000 liters of wastewater per day from the drainage outfalls of Padre Faura, Remedios, and Estero de San Antonio Abad, was inaugurated last July 30 by DENR Secretary Frank Cimatu and MMDA Chair Gen. Danilo Lim.
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    SC urged to cite DENR in contempt over sand dumping
    Requejo, Rey E.; Casas, Willie (Philippine Manila Standard Publishing, Inc., 2020-09-24)
    The Supreme Court has been asked to cite the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in contempt for allegedly dumping dolomite sand on Manila Bay, a move complainants said was a direct violation of the high court’s continuing mandamus order for state agencies to clean up and rehabilitate the bay. In a 16-page motion, the Akbayan Citizens’ Action Party through its chairman emeritus Etta Rosales sought to intervene in the more than 10 year-old mandamus case pertaining to the rehabilitation of the Manila Bay. The party-list group said dolomite sand is hazardous to health and the environment.
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    Groups seek deeper probe into Manila Bay's beach nourishment' initiative
    Mayuga, Jonathan L. (Philippine Business Daily Mirror Publishing, Inc., 2020-09-08)
    At least 10 environmental and cause-oriented groups on Wednesday called for an investigation into the controversial “beach nourishment” project at a portion of Manila Bay’s shoreline. The call for the probe was contained in a position paper sent to Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, Agriculture Secretary William Dar, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Director Eduardo Gongona, and the Senate and House of Representatives, in the exercise of their oversight powers and the Office of the Ombudsman. The group also prodded Manila Mayor Francisco Domagoso, Sangguniang Panlungsod ng Manila and Chairman Rene Escalante of the National Historical Commission (NHC) to investigate the violations committed by the proponents of the project.
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    MPIF commits P1.5M for Puerto Galera’s Marine Protection, Inspection and Conservation Guardians
    (Philippine Star Printing Co., Inc., 2019-06-08)
    Shore It Up, Metro Pacific Investments Foundation Inc.’s flagship program, is celebrating another year of elevating environmental awareness and conserving aquatic life in coastal municipalities through this year’s Shore It Up Weekend. After commemorating its 10th year, Shore It Up has chosen to revisit and deepen its commitment to Puerto Galera, an old SIU community partner and the center of marine biodiversity. Known as a designated UNESCO Man and the Biosphere reserve and the Number One hub amongst dive enthusiasts in the country, Puerto Galera boasts of over 30 dive sites that have been and are still popular within the diving community. Divers from across the country and the world travel to experience the one-of-a-kind diving experience in this municipality.
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    The Manila Bay crisis
    de Guzman, Sara Soliven (Philippine Star Printing Co., Inc., 2019-02-24)
    The recent photos taken of Manila Bay showed the beautiful sunset and happy people strolling by the bay and a few even bold enough to take a dip in the seemingly clean waters. But the real clean up hasn’t even started. Let’s not get too excited over this initial feat. There’s still a lot of work to be done. Remember Manila Bay waters is worst than Boracay.