OVER SEAS -- The Online Magazine for Sustainable Seas

Northwest Bohol

The CRMP learning area covers five municipalities in northwestern Bohol: Buenavista, Inabanga, Clarin, Tubigon and Calape, a total area of 35,446 hectares stretching to 75.2 km of coastline with a population of 140,820 persons (1995). CRMP also assists five municipalities, Loon, Panglao, Dimiao, Candijay and Getafe, in its expansion site. Signs of over-exploitation and environmental degradation are all over the place, brought about by illegal fishing activities (particularly the use of modified Danish seine (locally known as hulbot-hulbot), baby trawl, sodium cyanide and dynamite) , illegal fishpond construction, and the the extraction of coral and white sand quarrying. Local government units have initiated efforts -- mangrove reforestation (Banacan Island in Getafe has the largest man-made mangrove in Asia) and the declaration of closed seasons for blue crabs and rabbitfish (siganids), for example -- to arrest the decline of fisheries. CRMP hopes to harness these local initiatives to jump-start a wider and more integrated implementation of coastal resource management.

Getting Started
Following a trainers’ training course on participatory coastal resource assessment organized for local government officials in Bohol, two municipalities in CRMP’s learning area, Tubigon and Inabanga, along with one expansion site (Dimiao), have begun the assessment of coastal resources in their respective areas. The assessment is expected to be completed by March. The three other municipalities in the learning area -- Clarin, Buenavista and Calape -- will start their own resource assessment this year.

CRMP is working with Haribon, an environmental group, in Getafe, another expansion area, and in Tubigon, where the Project has made significant progress in organizing the community for coastal management. Two other expansion sites, Dimiao and Loon, have expressed interest in pursuing coastal management activities in their respective areas. Last December 22 and 23, CRMP conducted training workshops on participatory coastal resource assessment in Loon.

Mending Mangroves
Northwest Bohol’s extensive mangrove area is set to become one of the project sites of the mangrove component of CRMP. A non-governmental organization will join CRMP in assisting communities to assess and map mangroves and work toward reaching a mangrove stewardship agreement with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The project aims to cover a total of 13,000 hectares of mangrove, including Northwest Bohol’s, and involves the reversion of abandoned and illegal fishponds back to their original natural (mangrove) state, mangrove reforestation, provision of nurseries and sanctuary areas for mangroves, and mangrove management. Cutting of trees in the restored areas will be allowed but kept at sustainable levels. §