The Environment Department has designated a 612-hectare area in the town of Magsaysay, Misamis Oriental as a critical habitat for hawksbill sea turtles, bringing to more than 6,300 hectares the total area being protected in Northeastern Mindanao to ensure the survival of the critically endangered marine species.
The designation of Magsaysay Critical Habitat for Hawksbill Turtles is embodied in DENR Administrative Order No. 2016-02, establishing the coastal barangays of Kadiis, San Isidro and Damayohan as wildlife critical habitats where a total of 63 nesting sites of hawksbill sea turtles are found.
DENR Secretary Ramon Paje said the new directive is tied to DAO 2012-18 he issued in October 2012, designating a 5,756-hectare coastal area as “Carmen Critical Habitat for Marine Turtles” which covers the coastal barangays of Vinapor, Gosoon, San Agustin, Cahayagan and Tagcatong in Carmen, Agusan del Norte province.
“The two administrative orders are a culmination of an eight-year-old collaborative work by our field officers with local executives and residents of Carmen and Magsaysay municipalities,” Paje said.
In 2008, the DENR conducted a series of marine wildlife assessment studies in Carmen and observed that sea turtles were nesting in the town’s five coastal barangays.
This prompted local authorities to expand the study area to adjacent barangays of Magsaysay (Misamis Oriental), and came up with the same observations.
Paje said the MCHHT, being a critical habitat area, is now “protected from business activities” like quarrying, mineral exploration and extraction, as well as logging.