Managing and monitoring success – the story of Tubbataha Reefs, Philippines
Edgardo Tongson and Marivel Dygico, WWF Philippines
N estled within the Coral Triangle at the centre of the Sulu Sea, the Tubbataha Reefs are the largest coral atoll formations in the Philippines covering an area of 100 km
2
. The nearest land mass of size is mainland Palawan, with the capital of Puerto Princesa City lying 150 kilometres northwest of Tubbataha. The tidal shifts and wind-driven surface currents of the
Sulu Sea make for ideal conditions for larval dispersal. So despite the reefs relative isolation the currents help carry larvae of corals and fishes from Tubbataha to the surrounding reefs, especially on the eastern side of Palawan, which supports the biggest human population in the province.
The islands of Cagayancillo are the nearest human settlement to Tubbataha and are home to the traditional users of Tubbataha’s resources. At the start of the 1980s, Cagayanon fishers started to perceive the pressure of overfishing in their immediate surroundings. Threats came from increased commercial fishing and seaweed farming. In 1989, the near pristine condition of the reefs deteriorated due to illegal fishing, including use of explosives, indiscriminate dropping of anchors and unscrupulous collection of wildlife. Fishers from China and Taiwan also encroach into the Sulu Sea to catch turtles, live fish and sharks using destructive gears
(Tongson and Cola, 2007).
The reefs also began attracting the attention of researchers. They began to formally recorded the richness of the reef – which has nearly 400 species of corals (85 per cent of all coral species in the Philippines and about half of all coral species in the world), 479 species of fish,
79 species of algae, 10 species of seagrass, seven species of breeding seabirds, nine species of whales and dolphins, and two species of marine turtles. But their studies in the 1980s also documented the increasing evidence of damage wrought on the reefs and their wildlife populations (Dygico, 2006).
Calls for the protection of Tubbataha began in the mid-1980s and by August 1988 the
Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park was declared, the first marine protected area (MPA) in the country.
This proclamation transferred Tubbataha’s management jurisdiction from the municipal government of Cagayancillo to the national government. It banned the collection and gathering of corals, wildlife and any marine life, and outlawed the disturbance and destruction of the habitat. In 1993 the reef was declared a World Heritage Site, the only purely marine World Heritage Site in Southeast Asia today.
One negative effect of proclaiming Tubbataha’s protection was that the wealth of its fisheries were advertised, making it an attractive target for unscrupulous fishers. Although the declaration of the MPA put Tubbataha off-limits to fishing, in reality fishing continued within the MPA boundaries.
The effective conservation of Tubbataha took several years reach. The key to success was the development of locally-based management involving the local community and stakeholder equity among all the different groups using Tubbataha, i.e the big fishers, small fishers, divers, boat operators, conservation NGOs, government and academic researchers (Tongson and Cola, 2007). The Tubbataha Protected Area Management Board (TPAMB) has 17 members, from government agencies, local government, the Philippine Navy and Coast
Guard and NGOs. All these organizations have local offices based in Puerto Princesa and
Cagayancillo, enabling the members to attend quarterly meetings. Decisions are made by

consensus. The Tubbataha Management Office (TMO) is the implementing arm of the
TPAMB, overseeing the day-to-day operations of park management.
The TMO is headed by a Park Manager, and several staff recruited from nearby areas. In 1998, a park management plan was prepared following consultations with the local government and fishers; the plan is regularly updated to reflect monitoring and assessment results.
As monitoring and assessment systems were developed and refined in the MPA the results of effective management and protection have been recorded. Hard coral cover increased and fish biomass doubled from 166 metric tons per km
2 in 2004 to 318 metric tons per km
2 in 2005 due to increases in fish size. This increase indicates that spawning stocks are maintained within the boundaries of the park; the effects of which are felt beyond the boundary. Indeed, perceived fish catches outside the MPA by fishers during focus group discussions reportedly increased from 10 kg/day to 15-20 kg/day for the period 1999-2004 (Tongson and Cola,
2007). Furthermore, the comparatively high fish biomass in the nearby reef of Jessie Beazley, which has doubled since 2000, is attributed to its proximity to Tubbataha which allowed fish migration. Jessie Beazley is only about 20 kilometres from Tubbataha. Basterra reef, some 70 kilometres farther to the south, is totally unprotected and suffers badly from fishing pressure
(Dygico, 2006).
The monitoring data showing the importance of Tubbataha as spawning grounds for fisheries in the Sulu Sea helped convince commercial fishers to respect the no-take policy and local people to appreciate the management of the MPA. On their own initiative, the local community have established five MPAs as part of their coastal resources management programme (Tongson and Cola, 2007).
It is not just biodiversity which has benefited from the MPA. Socio-economic information was gathered in Cagayancillo to determine the impact of conservation on the people who were directly using the reefs resources before they were declared a no-take zone. A local participatory evaluation conducted in April 2005, reviewed income records and found an impressive 90 per cent increase between 2002 and 2004. Other indicators such as land and home ownership, hygiene facilities and access to electricity all increased between 2000 and
2004 (Dygico, 2006).
Many conservation projects fail because local stakeholders share a disproportionate burden of the cost arising from a no-take zone compared to benefits accruing to global and national stakeholders and more powerful groups.
Tubbataha Reefs has demonstrated that reconciling competing interests, based on the sharing of costs and benefits that all stakeholders consider satisfactory and equitable, is an effective model for conservation and development (Tongson and Cola, 2007).
Reference
Dygico, M. (2006) Tubbataha Reefs, A Marine Protected Area That Works, WWF-
Philippines, Quezon City, Philippines
Tongson, E. and Cola, R. (2007) Negotiating Stakeholder Agreements for Conservation: The
Case of Tubbataha Reefs, Philippines, Science Diliman , 19 :1, 46-62