Talim Bay Coastal Resources Management Project

      We are thankful for the commitment and dedication of our community partners in Lian, Batangas who have been part of the Livelihood Enhancement through Citizen Science (LECS) initiative. DLSU-Center for Social Concern  and Action’s (COSCA) partners on ground are the Lian Fisherfolks Association, Inc. (LFAI), Samahan ng Mandaragat sa Sulok (SAMLOK), Women’s Love Rural Improvement Club (Women’s Love RIC), and Sagip Kabarangay at Mandaragat Lumaniag Association (SAGIP).

       LECS provide local fishers and other community members the opportunity to earn extra income while learning science and assisting the DLSU-Br. Alfred Shields Ocean Research (SHORE) Center’s  Jellyfish Ecology and Envenomation Project (JEEP). JEEP is a project under DOST-PCAARRD which aims to identify the distribution, abundance, and seasonality of box jellyfish and determine high risk-areas. It also provides information necessary to help eliminate misconceptions about jellyfish envenomation and reduce deaths and related economic impact in the fishing and tourism sector.

       The community members (citizen scientists) involved in the JEEP initiative collect data through jellyfish monitoring (beach patrol and in-water net cast), trash survey, and weather monitoring.

       LECS is a collaboration between DLSU’s COSCA and SHORE and is funded by the Management Association of the Philippines.

 

(Photos by  DLSU SHORE, LFAI, SAMLOK, Women’s Love RIC, and SAGIP)

     DLSU-Center for Social Concern and Action (COSCA), together with Talim Bay’s Coastal Resource Management stakeholders strive to manage areas of the bay declared as Marine Protected Area amidst pandemic and help restore Talim Bay’s biodiversity. Initiatives like managing their mangrove nursery continue to provide an alternative income for the local fishers in Talim Bay’s coastal barangays.

     COSCA, in partnership with Lian, Batangas’ Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office, supports efforts to institutionalize management options, monitor Talim bay’s reef, and regularly plant mangroves in keeping with the project’s goal to help the organization of local fishers conserve, protect and sustainably utilize Talim bay’s marine resources. These initiatives continue to encourage local community action.

     On efforts to help maintain Talim bay’s biodiversity, COSCA’s Lasallian Sustainable Development Program- Lasallian Environmental Sustainability and Governance (L-ENVISAGE) Specialist, Ms. A. Sapugay shared, “We are happy that for Academic Year 2020-2021, we were able to plant 1,500 seedlings of Avicennia sp. at Sitio KayReyna, Lumaniag, Lian, Batangas. This became possible with our partnership with the hardworking members of the Lian Fisherfolks Association, Inc. Despite the pandemic, we found a way to continue this initiative under the Community-Based Coastal Resource Management component of L-ENVISAGE."

     The tree-planting activities were undertaken in observance of special environmental events viz.: a) International Day of Forests (March)(500 mangrove seedlings planted), b) Arbor Day (June)(500 mangrove seedlings planted), and c) International Day for the Conservation of Mangroves (July) ( 500 mangrove seedlings planted).

(Photos courtesy of W. Clores)