Five coastal municipalities formally formed and estaHe said that there are total of 132 MPAs across the province covering an area of 306,000 hectares.blished the Marine Protected Area Law Enforcement Network in Southern Palawan in a bid to strengthen the protection and enforcement of fishery laws in their respective municipal waters.
The municipalities of Aborlan, Narra, Sofronio Espanola, Brooke’s Point and Bataraza on Monday signed the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) during the Palawan Marine Protected Area (MPA) Summit 2019 held at Citystate Asturias Hotel.
All five municipal mayors were present: Celsa Aldier of Aborlan, Gerandy Danao of Narra, Marsito Acoy of Sofronio Espanola, Mary Jean Feliciano of Brooke’s Point, and Abraham Ibba of Bataraza. Vice Governor Dennis Socrates, who represented Governor Jose Ch. Alvarez, was present during the signing of the MOA.
The event was organized by the Provincial Government of Palawan, Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) through Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-SmartSeasPH, a marine conservation project implemented in Southern Palawan supported by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and Global Environment Facility.
Provincial Agriculturist Romeo Cabungcal said the strengthening of the protection and conservation of the MPAs in the five towns will significantly contribute to achieve food security in the province in Palawan.
He said that there are total of 132 MPAs across the province covering an area of 306,000 hectares.
The formation and strengthening of the five LGUs into an MPA network will help bolster the coastal law enforcement in the area with the help of other law enforcement agencies of the government.
“Ano ang outcome? That our MPAs, with the communities and partners will come up with good management for the sustainability of these MPA. Para sa effective management and sustainability –pwede itong mangyari. Dagdagan ng biodiversity friendly enterprises. Para ang communities ay may livelihood sila dapat. Sa law enforcement naman, nandyan yung ibang partners like PNP, Maritime, PCG, will look into and help us in the management of municipal waters,” he said.
He explained that they wanted to ensure the good management and effectiveness of MPAs and the sustainability of biodiversity-friendly livelihood to support the local communities, so that the natural marine and coastal resources are protected and conserved.