The Tubbataha Reefs National Marine Park Act has put the Philippines in the shortlist for the 2012 Future Policy Award, according to a media release by the World Future Council (WFC).
“Six policies from five countries have now been shortlisted for the 2012 Future Policy Award, an international award that celebrates effective and exemplary policies. The Philippines are shortlisted for their Tubbataha Reefs National Park Act, 2010. California, Namibia, Palau, and South Africa are also still in the running,” the media release said.
“This year, the topic of the award is apparently the protection of oceans and coasts. At least 31 policies from 22 countries were nominated, ranging from integrated ocean and coastal policies, marine protected area programmes to laws regulating fisheries, train in marine products, marine litter and land-sea interactions.”
For the Philippines, the Tubbataha Act of 2010 establishes the vital need for a national level policy to support local level action, giving perpetuity and authority to local level institutions to confront regional threats, such as illegal fishing, poaching and damaging fishing practices being done by foreign vessels.
Tubbataha has reportedly shown that “with carefully planned management, local communities need not bear the burden of closed protected areas, but can be their primary beneficiaries: as a nursery ground for fish, the reefs are supporting local artisanal fisheries.”
Located in the Sulu Sea, and 98 nautical miles southeast of Puerto Princesa City in Palawan, Tubbataha is made up of atolls separated by an eight-kilometer stretch channel. The South Atoll is the smallest and the largest, the North Atoll; each reef has a single small islet that protrudes from the water.
It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site situated in the Coral Triangle, a hotspot of marine biodiversity; and despite threats, including overfishing, the reefs are in excellent condition, the media release further added.
The international policy research organization WFC that provides decision makers with effective policy solutions grants the Future Policy Award.
The winning policy will be announced at the United Nations Headquarters in New York in September 2012. Winners will be celebrated at the 11th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Hyderabad, India, in October.
For this year’s theme, the World Future Council is partnering with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with support from the Okeanos Foundation. [PNA]
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