Coral Cover Assessment of Five Marine Protected Areas in Davao Oriental for Reef Conservation and Management
France Guillian B Rapiz
Discipline: Environmental Science
Abstract:
Marine protected areas (MPAs) are being established in coral reefs with the
goal of protecting and conserving these habitats and the resources therein. The
Integrated Coastal Resource Management Project (ICRMP) aims to help Davao
Oriental realize this by providing the necessary support to coastal communities
for them to establish and manage their MPAs. The objective of this study is to
determine the status of coral reefs in five of the ICRMP-assisted MPAs in Davao
Oriental to obtain baseline data needed to inform their management. The five
MPAs are located in the barangays of Luban, Lanca and Lawigan in the City of
Mati; Barangay San Ignacio in Manay; and Barangay Jovellar in Tarragona. The
Line Intercept Transect (LIT) method was used in the assessment of benthic life
forms. Coral cover inside the MPAs of Barangay Luban and Lawigan in Mati Rising
Jovellar MP Lawigan MPA Luban MPA MPA Sun MPAA City and Barangay San
Ignacio in Manay all fall within the fair category whereas the coral cover of the
MPAs in Barangay Lanca, Mati City and Barangay Jovellar, Tarragona are poor.
Meanwhile, coral covers outside of the MPAs in this study are all poor except for Barangay Luban, which has a fair coral cover. Among the MPAs, Barangay Lawigan
has the highest live hard coral cover while Barangay Jovellar has the lowest. Of
the sites assessed outside of the MPAs, Barangay Luban has the highest coral
cover while Barangay San Ignacio has the lowest. The results of the assessment
in this study will be used as baseline data for future monitoring to determine
whether protection has resulted to better coral cover inside the MPAs.
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ISSN 2984-7125 (Online)
ISSN 2244-4432 (Print)