Philippines, France strengthen marine conservation cooperation efforts

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines and France are taking steps to strengthen cooperation in ensuring marine conservation, with key government officials from both countries holding the first of a series of “Blue Talks” with local and foreign experts on biodiversity.

The first conference was held last Wednesday. It was organized by the Stratbase ADR Institute in partnership with the embassy of France in the Philippines.

French Ambassador to the Philippines Marie Fontanel explained that the Blue Talk conference is part of the Blue Nations initiative, a holistic program of bilateral cooperation between France and the Philippines in the perspective of working together as two maritime nations toward the next United Nations Ocean Conference, which will take place in France in June 2025.

“Discussions on marine biodiversity and biodiversity conservation is also very important because the Philippines, an archipelagic state made up of more than 7,100 islands, maintains an existential link with the ocean,” she said.

“The purpose of this conference is to foster the dialogue between all stakeholders in order to identify successful ways and ideas to help the policymakers and every one of us (to) better protect and preserve the biodiversity that we all depend on,” she added.

Fontanel announced the second Blue Talk conference will take place on Nov. 21 and will explore the possibility of having a maritime dialogue between France and the Philippines.

Stratbase ADR Institute president Dindo Manhit noted the importance of working with like-minded states like France in protecting the Philippine marine environment for future generations.

“The development of a ‘blue economy’ is a crucial step towards sustainable growth and today’s collaboration with the embassy of France offers a valuable opportunity to strengthen partnerships with like-minded nations,” he said.

He added that the conference “underscored the benefits of sustainable ocean use and conservation such as ensuring food security and boosting livelihoods and connectivity” as the threat of climate change is constantly increasing.

Environment Undersecretary Ernesto Adobo Jr., who is also supervising the Biodiversity Management Bureau, emphasized the importance of collaborations between the Philippines and France in enhancing political, scientific and civic engagement in environment protection, climate action, blue economy and maritime security.

“We need to ensure the sustainability not only of our use of marine biodiversity, but also of our conservation, restoration and regeneration efforts. We can only do this through cooperation,” he said.

The environment official also said their cooperation with the French embassy and Stratbase ADR Institute brought the “triple planetary crisis” – biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution – into the awareness of the different sectors.

Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) National Maritime Center director Vice Admiral Roy Echeverria said one of the alarming threats in the Philippines is the environmental collateral damage happening in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) due to the island building and construction and destructive fishing methods being conducted by some foreign fishermen.

“The Philippine Coast Guard conducted an underwater survey in some parts of the West Philippine Sea, specifically in Rozul Reef and Escoda Shoal. We found that Rozul Reef exhibits an environment void of living organisms. On the other hand, Escoda Shoal presents a noticeable color difference between the top half of its sandbar and its portion that is submerged during low tide,” he said.

The PCG official revealed that the two maritime areas have “deep-dead marine ecosystems with minimal to no presence of life forms,” warning that other areas of the WPS may experience the same fate.

PCG Maritime Security Law Enforcement Command head Vice Admiral Robert Patrimonio also reported that the primary maritime security threat in the Philippines is “illegal unreported unregulated fishing” conducted by both local and foreign fishermen.

Other security threats include smuggling, illegal transport of forest products, dangerous drug trafficking, human trafficking, armed robbery at sea and piracy and hijacking.

“Addressing the evolving maritime threats is a shared responsibility for all of us to mitigate, if not suppress, such threats… Precious information from our shipping and coastal communities, when shared to proper authorities, could be vital in revising policies, strategies and deployment of our very limited and precious resources,” Patrimonio said.