Talim Bay Coastal Resources Management Project

       Representatives from  COSCA’s  partner  people’s organization in Talim Bay, Lumaniag, Lian,  Batangas, the  Lian Fisher folk Association, Inc. (LFA) were among  the participants in the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) training – workshop conducted on May 15 to 19, 2018 for the basic  sectors of  Philippine society.  For  2018,  the Philippine government  through the Office of Civil Defense prioritizes  basic sector training (including  our  local fishers)  on DRRM with the recognition that  enhancing  their  knowledge  and  skills for disaster preparedness is an  important  strategy for  awareness building towards achieving community resiliency and increasing community-level support and participation in DRRM efforts.    The training –workshop aimed to benefit local fishers as quite a number of them have their houses built near the coastline,  making them vulnerable  to the  hazards and  effects of  disaster/s

       The DRRM training introduced our partner community members to the Philippine DRRM system and to the various  hazards they usually encounter in the community  (e.g.  hydro - meteorological hazards, geological hazards, rain- induced landslides, Climate Change and human-induced hazards). The participants were encouraged to describe the hazards/disasters observed in their  localities.   Like  most  workshop  participants, our LFA representatives  realized  that   more  communities  are  considered  situated  in  disaster  prone  areas and thus the need to equip these  communities  the  needed capacities  and resources for disaster preparedness.

       In an  interview  conducted  by Mr. Quenamot, Community Based  Coastal Resource Management  Coordinator with LFA member,  Mr. Agkis, the latter shared  his  learnings  from the  community based DRRM training  - workshop.  The  latter  shared  that  the workshop  was  an  eye-opener  for  him –  becoming  aware and  able  to  identify and  describe the hazards  present  in their  Lian, Batangas .  He thought that responding  to any disaster or hazard in their community it the responsibility only of  Barangay officials and other government agencies.  Mr. Agkis  further shared that the training  made  him  realize that the collective participation of the people in the community is important to mitigate the effects of any disaster or hazard.

       Also, the training facilitated the review of  the relevant DRRM principles discussed through simulation activities by the participants . The latter were given cases  that  happen during calamities and  were  requested to  apply  the DRRM principles and  other  learnings  shared  by the  resource  persons specially when responding  to the hazards / disaster in their communities.  Our fishers  shared  their important take-away from the  training -  the  need  to  echo or share the  knowledge  and  skills  they  learned  during the  training  to the other members of the community.

             Initiatives  to maintain biodiversity of  the  Talim Bay  area remain a challenge to the  local fishers,  the  Local  Government  Unit (LGU)  of  Lian, and  for  institutions  such  as  the  De La Salle University supporting  the  advocacy because  of a number  of  issues and concerns,  such as the presence of wastes, destructive fishing practices, siltation due to  on - going quarrying proximate to the  bay  area, not  to mention  the impact  of  climate  change which in a way  is blamed for the bleaching  of  corals nestled in Talim Bay’s reef.  Anthropogenic activities directly impact the marine ecosystem resulting to the depletion of marine resources  which affect   the income of the fishers who depend mainly on  the bay’s marine resources for  their  living.  Strategies such as  operating  a community based   ecotourism was  initiated for more than a year now as an alternative income generating activity for  local fishers.

            In  line with the efforts  to maintain biodiversity and manage Talim bay’s marine ecosystem and  at the same time providing  alternative  source  of  income  for the   local  fishers,  a collaborative  undertaking  was  pursued  by   the  Lian Fisherfolk  Association, Inc.(LFAI)   DLSU (COSCA, Br. Alfred Shields FSC Ocean Research (SHORE) and RVR-COB) and  LGU  Lian   to deploy artificial habitat in Talim Bay to help restore the fisheries in Talim Bay - the local fishers were instrumental in the construction of the artificial habitat while DLSU provided the necessary technical science-based information, capacity building  and of  facilitating alternative  source of  income generating  activities.

            Diver-fishers from LFAI, COSCA’s Coordinator for  Community  Partnership, Mr.  Quenamot and a representative from  SHORE continue  to  monitor the reef.  The team noted various  species of corals and  observed other marine organisms that  thrive in the  Talim bay reef.  The regular reef monitoring basically aims to update information on status of the corals aside  from considering reef  checking as venue  for the community  and for other  stakeholders to evaluate  management  measures implemented  for the Talim bay Marine Protected Area. Organizations supporting  the biodiversity  conservation initiative for Talim bay  recognize that key to getting valuable source  of information for  program stakeholders to  conduct effective management of the coral reef of Talim Bay is the involvement of the community members, hence, the active participation of the LFA diver-fisher members in the regular reef check activity.

           DLSU monitors the artificial habitat  installed  in  the  last  quarter  of  2017.  The artificial habitat serves  as nursery for various  aquatic organisms.   Few months after installation, the  monitoring team already noted schools of  fish    lingering in  areas where the structures for the artificial habitat  were installed. 

           Also,  a group of scientists from the California Academy of Science composed of  Dr. Burke, Dr. Carpenter, Dr. Gosliner and Dr. William visited  the  site in Lian Batangas on March  6 to 10, 2018  for  a training workshop.  The  team  shared to the local  people's organization and the LGU Lian a  methodology of  noting the diverse marine resources and of quantifying  biodiversity.  The Six (6) - Man Reef Check Team  composed of officers and members of  LFAI, LGU Lian and COSCA representatives were taught of  the roving census methodology enabling  them  to identify the fish, invertebrates and  at the same  time  segregating   the trash.   As a re-entry plan,  after  the  training  workshop, the local Reef Check team included the  knowledge and  skills  learned on roving census methodology  as  part  of  their  regular reef monitoring.  The same  monitoring activity will  enable  them  to measure the level biodiversification of the reef, its sensitivity to climate change, and determine the health or  resiliency of  the Talim bay reef.