Alarms ring as PH loses all ‘excellent’ reef cover amidst climate change, other man-made threats
Greenpeace Report
With 2018 declared as the
3rd International Year of the Reefs, scientists, conservation organizations and
fisherfolk gathered today at the Greenpeace flagship, the Rainbow Warrior, to
sound the alarm on the impacts of climate change on the world’s oceans,
starting with our coral reefs. The groups called on countries and governments
to urgently act to stop further deterioration of the coral reefs and the ocean.
A recent nationwide coral reef survey in the Philippines, conducted in
2015-2017 covering 166 coral sampling stations (108 Luzon, 31 Visayas and 27
Mindanao) in 31 provinces, reveals that Philippine coral reefs are in a bad
state. None of these coral stations were classified in the excellent category
(i.e. >44% hard coral cover or HCC). Ninety percent (90%) of these stations
(i.e. 154 of 166) were either “poor” (<22 74="" hcc="" span="" stations=""> or “fair”(>22-33% HCC, 80 stations).[1]
Increasing carbon dioxide (CO2)
in the atmosphere drives the rise in atmospheric temperatures (global warming),
resulting in extreme weather events, changes in rainfall patterns and warming
of oceans, which then lead to mass coral bleaching and sea level rise (from ice
melt and expansion). Increase in CO2 in the atmosphere also means
higher dissolution of carbon dioxide in the oceans, causing ocean
acidification.
The
group Philippine Coral Bleaching Watch has documented the impacts of mass coral
bleaching events at least three times in the last 20 years - in 1997-1998,
2010, and 2016-2017. Based on the 469 coral bleaching incident reports the
group has collated for 2016 and 2017, the ‘no bleaching’ reports (250) exceeded
the ‘bleaching reports’(181).
“Coral
bleaching impact was sporadic across the country. The degree of bleaching
severity was varied and occurred at different months. What we are not certain
about is whether or not our coral reefs still have the capacity to recover from
such acute events amidst more chronic stressors such as pollution, overfishing
and sedimentation,” said Mags Quibilan, Coordinator for Philippine Coral
Bleaching Watch.
The
combined effects of human activities on marine coastal ecosystems and impacts
of climate change will cause significant degradation and impede or further
delay natural recovery. Highly degraded marine coastal ecosystems would be
compromised from delivering essential ecosystem goods and services to
Filipinos, which are now valued at US$966 billion.[2]
“Our
waters are already troubled by pollution, illegal fishing and destructive
fishing that has made the fisherfolk sector the poorest of the poor. Now, as we
face the devastating effects of climate change, we can see that this will
aggravate the plight of our poor fishers, including fellow Filipinos reliant on
a healthy sea for food, tourism and other forms of livelihood,” said Ruperto
Aleroza, National Chairperson of Pambansang Katipunan ng mga Samahan sa Kanayunan, a national coalition
of fishers and farmers in the Philippines.
In
spite of all these threats on coral reef ecosystems and on the plants and
animals associated with them, the oceans still protect us from the impacts of
global warming. Over 90% of the excess
heat trapped by greenhouse gases has been stored in the ocean.[3] But the
groups warned that man-made pressure, coupled with climate change, are pushing
ocean ecosystems to its limits.
“The
impacts of climate change is far reaching, and we need to address it at the
root cause and extract accountability from carbon majors. Despite contributing
less to climate causing gases, we are feeling the brunt of what the global
north and carbon majors are doing. In order to stop this, a cohesive global
movement of people is needed. Our reefs, seagrass, mangroves, and other
organisms in our seas are feeling the heat, but a healthy ocean is a solution
to climate change, and we need to keep it that way by creating a large network
of no-take marine protected areas,” said Vince Cinches, Oceans Campaigner for
Greenpeace Philippines.
The
groups are calling for increased protection of the reefs and other marine
ecosystems through the establishment and effective management of a network of
marine protected areas and ocean sanctuaries, to include not only coral reefs,
but also seagrass and mangrove areas. This would safeguard and strengthen their
natural climate mitigation and adaptation capacity. The groups are also
demanding for better enforcement of fishery laws and the implementation of
coastal, land and water use plans. They also echo the calls of many groups to
make carbon majors [4] accountable by drastically cutting off their emissions
and hastening a just transition to low carbon development.
“The
Philippines, being the epicenter of global marine biodiversity and the apex of
the coral triangle, is crucial to a healthy and resilient world’s ocean. Even
though massive bleaching has happened across the country, we can remain hopeful
since there are coral reef areas that that did not bleach and are showing signs
of recovery. While we need to better understand the factors that make our coral
reefs resilient, it is imperative that we improve our protection efforts and
mitigation measures. The science that we know now is crucial to find ways to
accelerate recovery and enhance the science that will spur strategic policies
and actions. In this way, we are able to forge local actions by working
together towards global solutions, thus paving the way to recovery and climate
resilient seas,” said Dr. Perry Alino, professor at the University of the
Philippines - Marine Science Institute.###
Notes to editors:
[1]
Licuanan AM et al. 2017. Initial findings of the Nationwide Assessment of
Philippine coral reefs. Phil. J. Sci. 146(2): 179-187. Synoptic Investigations
of Human Impacts on Nearshore Environments (SHINE): Coral Reefs Project, a
component of the DOST-funded the National Assessment of Coral Reef Environments
(NACRE) program that focuses on reef benthos.
[2]
Azanza et al. 2017
For more information, contact:
Vince Cinches, Oceans Campaigner,
Greenpeace Southeast Asia - Philippines, vince.cinches@greenpeace.org | +63 949 889 1336
Miledel
Christine “Mags” Quibilan, Coordinator, Philippine Coral Bleaching Watch, phbleaching@msi.upd.edu.ph | +63 9298385926
Porfirio
“Perry” Alino, PhD., Professor, Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines -
Diliman, alinoperry018@gmail.com | +63 917 838 7042
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