R J Laranjo conducting a fish visual census inside the Selinog Reserve.

Marine reserves have been established in many communities in the Philippines because this is the best option for conserving and managing local fisheries. However, it has been noticed that many of the marine reserves in the Visayas and Mindanao region lack regular monitoring, which is the basis of sound reserve management policies.

Putting down permanent markers for monitoring in the sanctuary, foliose hard corals inside the Selinog Island MPA.

This project aims to establish a community-based monitoring program in the marine protected area of Selinog Island, Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines. It aims to address the lack of local, community-based monitoring which is essential for the sustainability of managing this reserve.

Training will be conducted with the use of field-tested manuals that were developed especially for the use of local communities. Basic monitoring equipment (e.g. transect lines, snorkel sets, underwater slates) will be turned over to a local organization. A conservation education component will also be implemented to encourage the sustainability of the monitoring program, mainly using the data that the locals themselves have gathered.

The training will be conducted by researchers/graduate students from Silliman University, with support from the Silliman University Angelo King Center for Research and Environmental Management (SUAKCREM) and the Silliman University Marine Laboratory (SUML). It is hoped that this pilot project becomes successful so that a similar project can be replicated in other small communities in the Visayas region. Eventually, it is hoped that a network of properly monitored and managed reserves will be established in the region.