EDITORIAL - Oceans of life

Having one of the world’s most extensive coastlines makes Filipinos aware of the importance of the sea. Across the archipelago, many communities depend on the sea for their livelihood, and a large chunk of the nation’s food requirements are sourced from the oceans. The sea provides recreation and plays a crucial role in maintaining the global climate. Around the planet, sea lanes are vital for international commerce and maintaining peace.

Many factors, however, threaten the oceans, including pollution, global warming, over-fishing and destructive forms of fishing, piracy and other criminal activities. Overlapping territorial claims destabilize regions and can result in armed conflict. The United Nations provided an international legal framework for ocean activities, through the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, but UNCLOS provisions are violated even by some of its signatories.

Recognizing threats to the oceans, Canada proposed at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil the declaration of a special day for the oceans. Official recognition was given by the United Nations in 2008, and the first World Oceans Day was celebrated on June 8, 2009.

Today, the Philippines joins global celebrations of World Oceans Day as a fresh infestation of the crown-of-thorns starfish threatens the country’s coral reefs. Within the country’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone as provided under UNCLOS, Chinese ships are staking a territorial claim over several reefs, a long way from their EEZ. Manila is in the middle of a dispute with Taiwan following the fatal shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman by Philippine Coast Guard personnel in waters off Batanes.

The Philippines is also marking World Oceans Day with large tracts of Tubbataha Reef, a World Heritage Site in the Sulu Sea, damaged by a US Navy minesweeper and a Chinese vessel that ran aground earlier this year.

“Together we have the power to protect the ocean ” – this is the theme of this year’s celebration of World Oceans Day. The Philippines, with its extensive coastline, bears a heavy responsibility in protecting the seas. Despite limited resources, the country must do its best to be up to the task.