Philippines wraps up Coral Triangle chairmanship

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is ending its two-year chairmanship of the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF), an environment official said.

“Moving forward, we must shift our focus on actions that can really deliver higher level of outcomes such as poverty reduction and improved food security,” Undersecretary Jonas Leones of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said in his opening remarks during the recent 14th CTI-CFF Senior Officials Meeting in Makati City.

Leones is chairperson of the CTI-CFF Committee of Senior Officials.

The two-day meeting in mid-December was one of the culminating activities for the Philippine chairmanship of CTI-CFF, a multilateral partnership of six countries working together to sustain extraordinary marine and coastal resources by addressing crucial issues such as food security, climate change and marine biodiversity.

Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste and the Philippines are collectively known as Coral Triangle 6 or CT6.

Leones said the chairmanship of the Philippines for the past two years was not easy because some difficult challenges faced the organization.

The region, he said, also suffered from natural disasters that cost lives and economic losses among CT6 nations, further aggravating an already difficult sector to manage.

“Our coastal communities which have always relied on the richness of our seas remain highly vulnerable to an ever changing environment, which is why there is a need to develop programs and initiatives that are more adaptive and sustainable,” Leones said.

The official, however, believed the region has moved on from “difficult times” and was now “eager to keep on working to achieve our common goals.”

But before the CT6 adopts a new regional plan of action, Leones said working groups, such as coordination mechanism, monitoring and evaluation, must gain ground.

He said this is to make sure “everything is in place and all we have to do is to implement what will be decided upon by the CTI-CFF.”

Leones also shared some of the efforts done by the Philippines to protect its coastal and marine resources, including its “bold and decisive moves” in connection with the world-famous Boracay Island.

He said the six-month closure of Boracay served as an eye opener for local government units, coastal communities and national agencies on the effects of unsustainable tourism practices.

“Moreover, this initiative has rippled through all of our provinces and municipalities, triggering an increased environmental consciousness to those living along the country’s coastline,” Leones added.

He said the country also expanded the coverage of the National Integrated Protected Area System or NIPAS, which established and reinforced additional terrestrial and coastal protected areas spread across the country.

Leones also cited the signing of Presidential Proclamation 489 declaring a portion of the Philippine Rise, more commonly known as Benham Rise, as a resource reserve.

The underwater region located off Luzon was found to harbor significantly large contiguous coral reefs in pristine condition, prompting the Convention of Biological Diversity to declare it as an “ecologically and biologically significant area.”

Leones said the Boracay rehabilitation, expansion of NIPAS coverage, protection of Philippine Rise and other coastal and marine conservation and protection activities signify the country’s continued commitment to international agreements, such as the CTI-CFF.

“Being an archipelagic country, we cannot emphasize further how important it is for our government to prioritize our seas,” Leones said, giving assurance that the Philippines “shall give its utmost… with regard to preserving our natural resources.”