The Palawan government has named the Bulalacao marine protected area (MPA) in Coron as the province’s Best Community-Managed MPA for actively helping the coastal and marine ecosystems in the area recover and regenerate.
“When we first mapped and surveyed Bulalacao back in 2012, the surrounding ocean was in a horrible state, with reefs and the fishing grounds heavily damaged from decades of dynamite and other unsustainable fishing methods. You would hardly see any fish, any marine life, that time,” said Malampaya Foundation Executive Director Karen Agabin.
“Now, through the collaborative effort of all stakeholders, we have observed a 100-fold increase in fish abundance, along with the return of long-absent endangered species like the napoleon wrasse,” she added.
The Bulalacao MPA received the recognition at the PEARL (Palawan MPAs Empowered through Awards and Recognition to Enrich Marine Life) Awards on December 10, 2020.
Malampaya Foundation, which assisted the community in the MPA’s creation and management, attributes the award to its “collaborative partnership” with the Bulalacao indigenous peoples group, the Coron local government, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NICP), the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), the Philippine Coast Guard, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Department of Energy, and the Philippine National Police-Maritime.
Established in 2014, the 3,297-hectare MPA has two strict protection zones and two sustainable use zones.
Agabin said the establishment of the Bulalacao MPA is the culmination of about two years of social preparation, collaboration, and cooperation between the barangay and Tagbanua leaders, community members, the Coron municipal government, NICP, BFAR, the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development, and the Malampaya Foundation.
“In the next few years, what we hope to see is continuous coral regeneration. A large component of that is addressing the coastal communities, making them our partners, and getting their leaders to contribute in the overall marine conservation effort. And with the active participation of all stakeholders, we are very optimistic to see a sustainable development in coral regeneration,” Agabin said.
“Now, we are in the process of helping them expand the Bulalacao MPA. We have done an initial mapping and now we are undergoing another social and legal process. To have the MPA supported by legislation through ordinances, there will be a series of consultations and consents from various stakeholders. We are hopeful that we will have it expanded by next year,” she added.
As of 2019, Malampaya Foundation’s marine conservation program area spans 329,627 hectares under 31 conservation agreements with 30 barangays and 14 municipalities. Several of its MPAs are used as models by other municipalities in the Philippines aiming to improve coastal and marine conservation efforts in their areas.