MPAs Database
The Philippines is one of the world’s centers of marine biodiversity and multitaxa marine endemism(Roberts et al. 2002).
The database contains MPAs with vital information for coastal resource management, particularly MPA size, location, management effectiveness, and contact information. The database will be the source of up-to-date information on MPAs in the Philippines. The MPA database is seen to be the start of developing nationwide systems of biological databases where academic, government, and nongovernment institutions work together as integral parts of communities of practice.
MPA Database Through Time
As early as the 1900s, the Philippines has recognized certain parts of the country to be protected. The declaration of the Hundred Islands National Park in 1940 protected a significant portion of the coastal and marine areas in Pangasinan. In 1974, the first local MPA, the Sumilon Island Marine Sanctuary was established by fishing communities with support from Silliman University and Dr. Angel C. Alcala, now known as the father of MPAs.
Notable MPAs were established in the succeeding years, include the Apo Island Marine Reserve, locally established in 1982, and the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park established by the national government in 1988.
With the enactment of the Local Government Code in 1991, local government units were granted autonomy to ‘attain their fullest development as self-reliant communities and make them more effective partners in the attainment of national goals’. Decentralization paved way for the establishment and management of local MPAs. The enactment of the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act in 1992, also paved the way for the national government for protected area establishment and management. By 1997, more than 600 MPAs were established in the Philippines, but most of these are classified as “paper parks”, with policies in place but implementation mechanisms weakly or not enforced.
