“The degradation of our marine ecosystems has always been a gut issue as it pushes poverty deeper in the coastal communities through loss of livelihood, vulnerability to natural hazards, hunger and even health problems. We must all work together to bring back our coral reefs and the whole marine ecosystem to excellent condition so that our seas can benefit us in a sustainable manner,” – Senator Loren Legarda
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“From afar, aliens might see the obvious: the sea is Earth’s life-support system,” wrote marine biologist Sylvia A. Earle, former chief scientist of the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. “The services provided are so fundamental that most of us who live here tend to take them for granted.”
“The earth’s great sea is the heart of the hydrological cycle – nature’s solar-driven water pump,” explains Don Hinrichsen, an award-winning environmental journalist and author of Coastal Waters of the World.
About 430,000 cubic kilometers of water evaporate from the oceans every year. “Of this amount, around 110,000 cubic kilometers fall as freshwater precipitation over land, replenishing surface and ground waters and eventually completing the cycle by returning to the sea,” Hinrichsen reports.
“Once thought to be so vast and resilient that no level of human insult could damage them, the oceans are now crying out for attention,” noted a report released by the Washington-based Worldwatch Institute. “While the public eye is periodically turned to large disasters, it is routine assaults that most threaten the marine environment.”
Every year, since 1999, the Philippines celebrates May as the Month of the Ocean by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 57. This year’s celebration focuses on the significance as well as the conservation and protection of coral reefs hence the theme, “Ang bahura ay kagubatan sa karagatan, ating pangalagaan!” (The coral reefs are the forests in the seas, let’s protect them!).
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) through the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spearhead the celebration in collaboration with the different sectors of society.
“The significance of the ocean to human well-being is undeniable, as millions of Filipinos depend on coral reefs and their associated ecosystems, providing food and livelihood to small-scale artisanal and subsistence fishers as well as commercial fishers,” the BMB wrote in its website.
“Given that the Philippines is an archipelagic country composed of 7,597 islands, the development of the coastal areas is crucial, as 78% of the country’s 80 provinces and 56% of its 1,634 cities and municipalities, are located along its coasts. These ecosystems provide diverse and valuable functions and services, such as coastal protection, fisheries production, and regulation services as well as recreational, educational and aesthetic values,” the BMB noted.
Human populations have a tremendous impact on the quality of coastal and oceanic environments. A full two-thirds of the world’s population live within 400 kilometers of a seacoast. Just over half the world’s population occupy a coastal strip 200 kilometers wide, representing only 10 per cent of the earth’s land surface.
This is true in the case of the Philippines, which has about 7, 107 islands. “Every Filipino lives within 45 miles of the coast, and every day, more than 4,500 new residents are born,” wrote Joan Castro and Leona D’Agnes in a report circulated by the Washington, D.C.-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Rapid population growth and the increasing human pressure on coastal resources have resulted in the massive degradation of the coral reefs, touted to be the tropical rainforest of the sea.
Dr. Edgardo D. Gomez, director of the Marine Science Institute of the University of the Philippines at Diliman, agrees. “If asked what the major problem of coral reefs is, my reply would be ‘The pressure of human populations’,” he asserted.
Daily chemical and biological pollution – again caused by human activities – is likewise damaging the oceans at a frightening rate, while ongoing coastal development – driven by tourism and economic boom – hamper their ability to recuperate.
“Accidents at sea such as oil spills, chemical spills or operational discharges from ships are only a small percentage, and affect only limited areas,” noted marine biologist Stjepan Keckes. “They are far less serious than slow insidious pollution which people get used to because it is progressive. In warm waters, oil evaporates or degrades and is broken up very quickly by bacteria to harmless substances – carbon dioxide and water.”
In recent years, growing amounts of litter have been found in the marine environment. Natural materials disintegrate quickly, but plastics are relatively non-biodegradable. “Plastics persist for up to 50 years and, because they are usually buoyant, they are widely distributed by ocean currents and wind,” reports the World Resources Institute.
The oceans must be saved – now! In a feature which appeared in Philippine Daily Inquirer, Alexandra Cousteau, shares some ideas: “We need to get away from the idea that conservation is just about not touching the oceans. Conservation is about restoring abundance and diversity that will feed more people, feed more marine life, and create resilience against climate change and ocean acidification that will the Philippines really hard.”
The ocean explorer, filmmaker and conservation advocate suggested that Filipinos must work together. “Getting the right people engaged is a huge part of it,” Cousteau said. “We have to make sure small-scale fisherfolk are represented; they’re not the ones plundering the ocean. We have to stop illegal commercial fishing; we have to source the fish responsibly. It’s been done before, it’s not a magic formula. Increase the marine protected areas, stop bycatch, stop illegal fishing – et voila!”
“Life originated in the ocean millions of years ago,” Federico Mayor, former director-general of the United Nations Economic, Social and Cultural Organization reiterated. “Today, life depends on the oceans. They were the roots of life. Now, they are its wings.”
