Representatives from the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD), a sectoral council of the Department of Science and Technology, visited Kiamba town in Saranggani recently.
The visit sought to jumpstart the restoration of Bakud reef, among other identified sites in the area, based on a memorandum of agreement entered into by PCAARRD with the Provincial Government of Sarangani and the Mindanao State University-General Santos City as project implementer.
The restoration effort became necessary when MV Double Prosperity, a Panamanian-registered vessel, ran aground Bakud Reef destroying massively some 2,844 square meters of precious coral reefs, among other major damages.
The brunt of the damage laid heavily not only on Kiamba’s marine life but also on its budding tourism industry. This compelled Kiamba to file claims for damages and at the same time seek relief from concerned government agencies, including PCAARRD in terms of appropriate restoration technologies.
A memorandum of agreement was thus, later on pursued binding the efforts of the concerned agencies.
The agreement focuses on the implementation of the project titled “Application of Coral transplantation Technology to Improve Productivity of Coral Reef Resources for Responsible and Sustainable Fisheries and Harness Potentials of Kiamba, Saranggani for Underwater Tourism.”
The project is under the flagship program “Roll-out of Coral Transplantation Technology Using Asexually Reproduced Corals to Improve Productivity of Coral Resources for Sustainable Fisheries and Enhance Competitive of Underwater Tourism.”
During the project’s inception meeting held in Saranggani recently, PCAARRD’s Technology Transfer and Promotion Division (TTPD) , through its director, Dr. Melvin B. Carlos, clarified the project’s specifics including expectations, specific roles of key players, and the technology transfer scheme.
Likewise discussed during the meeting were the project’s general framework and identified project sites particularly Tuka 1 and 2 as the donor/collection site, Tuka 3 for the Coral Nursery Units (CNUs), and Bakud reef as transplantation site.
The sites were chosen because of their suitability for restoration; availability of sufficient amount of coral fragments or Coral of Opportunities (COPs); and their being within the sphere of a Marine Protected Area.
To be implemented for a period of one year, the project is expected to transplant 30,000 coral fragments to restore damage reef area; set-up and deploy 10 CNUs; identify, document and establish a stream of dive sites; and develop a pool of human resources for coral restoration and eco-tourism.
Based from these outputs, the government hopes to jump-start a coral restoration service industry and promote science-based coral reef management.
The above-mentioned project is only one of the many other projects funded and coordinated by the Council in keeping with the first and foremost of the outcomes committed by DOST: “Science based know-how and tools that enable the agriculture sector to raise productivity to world class standards.