Talim Bay Coastal Resources Management Project

             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.