EDITORIAL — Protecting a national treasure

There are some undeniable sources of Philippine pride. One is being the world’s center of marine biodiversity, as determined by about 100 scientists from around the globe. In a joint study, the US Smithsonian Institute also declared Verde Island Passage, between Mindoro and the main island of Luzon, as the "center of the center" of the world’s marine biodiversity, hosting close to 60 percent of the world’s species of shore fish.

How long the country can retain this distinction is another story. Environmental groups have scored some gains in efforts to protect the country’s rich marine resources. Destructive forms of fishing have been minimized and communities have been educated on the financial and social benefits of ecotourism.

But the World Bank has noted that compared with other developing countries, the Philippines has one of the poorest records in conserving marine resources. Philippine environment officials agree, blaming the problem on poverty, a booming population, industrialization, pollution and global warming.

Verde Island Passage lies along a commercial waterway that is used extensively by oil and chemical tankers plying the coastal waters of Batangas. Apart from pollution, the marine resources are threatened by people around the area. Coastal communities have learned to make a living out of catching aquarium fish that thrive in the coral reefs around Verde Island. Environmental groups are trying to educate the coastal communities about the greater benefits to be reaped from conserving their highly diverse marine resources.

Elsewhere in the country, marine resources are threatened by poachers. As marine conservationists released back into the wild the last of several Napoleon wrasses poached by Chinese fishermen who were caught near Tubbataha Reef, a World Heritage Site, 10 Vietnamese fishermen were arrested for poaching near Balabac in Palawan. Found on the poachers’ boat were dead stingrays and shark fins.

These are the poachers who get caught. How many others manage to get away, bringing with them endangered marine species stolen from the world’s center of marine biodiversity? Agencies tasked to police the country’s territorial waters are among the most poorly equipped and undermanned in the world, and even the assistance provided by environment volunteers is not enough. The nation will have to invest much more if it wants to retain its natural treasures.