In The Middle Of The Center

It is a postcard perfect area, with clear blue-green waters lapping against an island verdant with growth, and pockets of white sandy beaches tucked into its shoreline. Verde Island, a banca ride away from the Batangas City port, is aptly named, and it can easily be any vacationer’s prized getaway.

But Verde Island has become so much more. In a long overdue press conference last October, marine biologist Kent Carpenter presented to government officials, environmentalists and media his 2004 study identifying the Verde Island passage to be the "center of the center" of marine biodiversity, home to the world’s largest diversity of marine shorefish with 1,736 overlapping marine species documented in the area.

The Verde Island Passage is a 10-square kilometer area that covers the shores of Batangas, Mindoro Oriental and Occidental, Romblon and Marinduque. The area has been called the "marine counterpart of the Amazon River basin" in terms of its biodiversity.

"You have a very, very special marine natural heritage," says Carpenter, the global marine species assessment coordinator of the World Conservation Union and a former Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines.

His landmark study, conducted together with Victor Springer of the Smithsonian Institute’s Department of Zoology, identified the Indo-Malaya-Philippines Archipelago (IMPA) as the area of highest marine biodiversity. Using a geographical information system overlaying nearly 3,000 maps, their analysis further found that in the Verde Island passage is concentrated the highest levels of diversity and endemism. Unusually strong currents sweep through this passage combined with equatorial currents, sea temperatures and other factors contribute to this richness.

Having determined that, however, the two scientists go on to pose a further disturbing conclusion: "The identification of the Philippines as the major center of marine biodiversity is troubling because of the heightened level of threat to marine environments there."

In layman’s terms, this means that while we have a true natural treasure within our shores, we fall short of the resolve and capability of taking care of this treasure.

Speaking at the public forum last month, Environment and natural resources Secretary Angelo Reyes admitted that "on the Verde Passage marine corridor, a lot of the issues affecting the biodiversity there are issues of weak law enforcement. Overfishing in Batangas Bay, illegal fishing including encroachment of commercial fishers in Calatagan, Nasugbu, Lian and Balayan Bay, squatting, and solid waste and waste water pollution could all be addressed by a strengthened, unified and fully coordinated law enforcement effort."

One of the major troubling points is that the Verde passage is a major passenger and cargo shipping route for inter-island vessels to and from Manila Bay to the Visayas and Mindanao. The mere mention of regulating shipping traffic in the area raised vigorous objections, a hint of the challenges that lie ahead of conservation and protection efforts.

Following widespread media coverage of the Carpenter and Springer findings, President Arroyo ordered the convening of a national biodiversity summit to be held on site at Verde Island. At the summit, held on November 8, the President signed Executive Order No. 578 establishing the National Policy on Biological Diveristy and prescribing its implementation by all government agencies throughout the country, particularly in the Sulu Sulawesi marine ecosystem and the Verde Island passage marine corridor.

"We can only continue to be tops in terrestial and marine wealth if we care for our resources, use them prudently and alleviate the poverty that forces people to exploit them mindlessly," she said. "We aim for the day when no Filipino will have to burn the forest or poison the waters to feed his family."

That should be welcome news indeed for Carpenter and other conservationists, but it is only the first step in the long and continuing road of protecting our environment and natural resources.

The effort is getting a big boost from an energy company that operates out of Batangas City. FirstGen Corporation, the largest Filipino-owned and controlled independent power producer in the country, has partnered with Conservation International-Philippines and the First Philippine Conservation Inc. to lead conservation efforts of the crucial marine passage. The company has invested over P3.5 million for the first phase of the Verde Island Passage Marine Corridor Integrated Conservation and Development Program, and has committed an additional $1 million for the next five years. The program includes a coastal resource management plan, a biological assessment of the reefs and fishes and a stakeholder vision that encompasses the concerns and goals of the area’s residents.

FirstGen’s commitment is sustained by the personal involvement of its president and COO Federico Lopez, who is also on the international board of Conservation International. "We’re here not just because we have plants in Batangas, but because this is a national treasure," says Lopez, an avid diver.

The challenges are formidable, but the value of the passage, not just to the nation but to all mankind, is even more formidable, and one we cannot ignore. - By Dina Sta. Maria

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There is a lot to see and experience in the world around us, but it is a totally different thing when you experience life in the water: when you snorkel, and even more when you dive and explore life in a coral reef.

The dive sites around Verde Island in Batangas offer divers a very rich and varied marine experience. Although it may not be an easy dive–the currents in the area can be unpredictable–it is worth the effort for the great diversity it offers.

Whenever I jump in the water I know that I am entering a different world. For one thing, there is an abrupt change in the ambient temperature, from something like 35oC to 25oC or even colder, depending on the time of year.

All of a sudden I am on top of the world – the marine world. From my vantage point near the surface I see a new community composed of strange creatures, very different from those on land.

With a dive mask, everything is magnified, and things can seem about 25 percent larger than they really are. I am awed by the sizes of fish swimming right at me. There are fish that look like rocks that suddenly dart into motion, and plants that are actually sea anemones. Some corals look like alien creatures from some sci-fi movie.

I can hear clicking sounds, but I cannot tell from which direction the sounds are coming from–in fact, they seem to be coming from all directions. That is because sound travels much faster in water.

The underwater world shifts and changes – with the tides, the seasons – and every dive site is different each time you dive, with a different story to tell, a different landscape for you to explore.

And no two divers–even when they dive together–ever tell the same story, and that is because this mysterious world speaks to each one differently. - By Ramon J. Araneta

The author is vice president of First Gas Corporation, an avid diver and enthusiastic underwater photographer.