| Abstract |
A marine protected areas (MPA) are is an important tool for conservation and fisheries management (White & Vogt 2000; Alcala & Russ 2006; White et al. 2006a), for enhancing fishery productivity and biodiversity (Laffoley 2008) and in coral reef resilience against adverse impacts of climate change (Mumby 2007, Maypa et al., in review). About 10,280 MPAs were established globally covering 2.3% of the world’s ocean area (2012 World Database on Protected Area; Spalding et al. 2013). In the Philippines, about 1,620 locally established MPAs were recorded in 2011 (National CTI Coordinating Committee 2013) and the Visayan Region have the most number of sanctuaries. However, only 1.5% of the total municipal waters in the province are protected and 0.17% within the no-take zone (Weeks et al. 2009). In Siquijor, at least 22 MPAs have been established with a total area of 259.94 hectares or about 16% of the entire coral reef area (1,384.75 ha) in the province. |
