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Davao del Sur

The focus of CRMP’s efforts in Davao del Sur are six municipalities -- Padada, Hagonoy, Sulop, Malalag, Sta. Maria and Digos -- covering an area of 85,948 hectares with a population of 56,514 persons and a coastline stretching to 66 km. Five expansion sites have been identified -- Sta. Cruz, Malita, Don Marcelino, Jose Abad Santos and Sarangani Island -- covering an area of 190,499 hectares and a coastline of 191 kms. Majority of the residents in these coastal areas are engaged in fishing and derive their income mainly from fishing the nearby 65-sq km Malalag Bay. Intense exploitation of marine resources has caused the degradation of the coastal environment. Malalag Bay’s live corals once covered 1,020 hectares -- this area has been reduced to a mere 113.4 hectares, primarily because of the prevalence of illegal fishing practices but also partly because of chemical wastes from agriculture and fishponds. To reverse the trend, the government has imposed, since 1992, a gradual banning of compressors. A 50-hectare fish sanctuary has been established in the area, and public awareness of coastal issues is growing.

Pace picks up
CRMP welcomes two new staff in Malalag, Oscar Francisco and Johnette Delejero, who were recently recruited to assist Learning Area Coordinator Melchor Maceda as CRMP steps up its work in the area. Other key developments: ·

• Cluster municipal training courses on participatory coastal resource assessment have been completed and barangay level resource assessment is underway.
  
  
• To address coastal resource management issues on law enforcement, fishery regulation and municipal water boundaries, a workshop was held to discuss the possibility of a unified fishery ordinance for Davao del Sur; an offshoot of this activity was the formation of a Technical Working Group tasked to draft the ordinance. Through its linkage with the Legal Environmental Advocacy Program of Silliman University, CRMP is providing the province legal support. If things go well, Davao del Sur could be the first CRMP learning area to have a unified fishery ordinance.

  Coordinator Maceda says Sarangani Governor Rogelio Llanos has requested that the effort to unify ordinances also include non-coastal municipalities because "what they do also affects the coasts." Two versions of the unified fishery ordinance are being considered. Maceda says he expects "a long process" but is optimistic about its outcome. "Majority of the 11 municipalities involved in the process are for unification," he observes. "Furthermore, 100% of the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Councils (FARMCs) in the CRMP learning area and 75% of FARMCs in the entire province are already organized. We expect them to provide the impetus to move the process forward." §

Palawan | Negros | Northwest Bohol | Cebu | Sarangani | Davao del Sur

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