Artificial bamboo reefs are reviving marine life in Padre Burgos, Southern Leyte, said Rio Cahambing, provincial consultant on marine tourism.
This was revealed through the recent documentation dive more than a year after 76 modules of artificial reef were launched off Poblacion village, Cahambing said.
“The bamboo artificial reefs have become a rich haven of fish, corals, invertebrates and many other marine organisms,” she said.
“The transformation testifies to the fact that artificial reefs need not be so expensive and sophisticated, and that locally available and eco-friendly materials, such as bamboos, can be useful in propagating marine life in the most natural way possible,” the official added.
The concept echoes the vision of Scaph Pro Philippines, a French-based non-government organization, recently established in Padre Burgos town, with Michael Levett as president and Jean-Francois Marailhac as vice president and technical director.
The Southern Leyte provincial government supported the program by extending technical advice and support.
For the second year, the group has implemented Operation Green Reef to rehabilitate or re-establish marine ecosystems using artificial reefs.
An additional 24 modules were recently launched, for a total of 100 modules for the same site. Several new modules are also being launched in the adjacent Cantutang village.
An assessment made late last year identified 146 fish species and 124 species of invertebrates in the site.
The recent documentation dives late July, show that the number of species had risen, as soft and hard corals, fish and invertebrates continue to colonize and congregate within the artificial reefs.
Noticeable increases in schooling pelagic fish intrusions were also observed. Pelagic fish includes forage fish such as anchovies, sardines, shad and menhaden and the predatory fish.
Schools of fusiliers, long-nosed emperors, jacks, spade fishes, mackerels, and other reef predators are now becoming frequent sights.
“This is an indication that the whole artificial reef site is fast becoming a productive marine ecosystem,” Cahambing added.
Scaph Pro Philippines is willing to consult with other local government units interested in undertaking similar projects.
In February, the group learned that two villages were hit by massive coral destruction caused by the damaging fishing method called “cerosca” that is similar to muro-ami.
The corals in Poblacion and Cantutang were virtually destroyed by cerosca many years ago, and only a small percentage of the corals managed to recover.
Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, said cerosca uses an encircling net together with pounding devices. These devices are large stones fitted on ropes that pound the coral reefs. It is repeatedly and violently lowered into the area encircled by the net, literally smashing the corals in that area into small fragments in order to scare the fish out.
Cahambing added that restoring reefs in Southern Leyte would boost tourism and provide livelihood for the locals. Southern Leyte is known as the diving capital of Eastern Visayas.
“The reefs of Padre Burgos are generally healthy. In fact there are world-class dive sites in the area, teeming with fish and amazing marine life,” she said.
Padre Burgos is a small fishing town in the province of Southern Leyte, famous for its white sand beaches and also the jump-off point to the historic island town of Limasawa.
