A CASE STUDY ON THE

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF

TUBBATAHA REEF NATURAL PARK

Introduction

Nestled within the Coral Triangle, home to the most abundant marine biodiversity
on earth, the Tubbataha Reefs are a pair of the largest true coral atoll formations in the
Philippines. These islets, fringing reefs, coral walls and drop-offs are home to a
multitude of creatures of all shapes, sizes and colors. Over the years, researchers have
recorded 396 species of corals—85% of all coral species in the Philippines, 80% of
those in the Coral Triangle and about half of all coral species in the world.

The Tubbataha Reefs are found at the very center of the Sulu Sea. They lie
along the Cagayan Ridge, which traverses the Sulu Sea from the northeast, from the
Sultana Shoal in Cagayancillo, to the southwest, to the San Miguel Islands of Tawi-
Tawi. The nearest land mass of considerable size is mainland Palawan, with the capital
of Puerto Princesa City lying 150 kilometers northwest of Tubbataha. The nearest
islands are 130 kilometers in the other direction, northeast—Cagayancillo, the
municipality where Tubbataha belongs.

Tubbataha has been in existence for millennia. The accepted theory, credited to
Charles Darwin, is that an atoll is formed when volcanic eruptions give birth to an island.
Corals then start to grow on the shores of the islands, developing fringing reefs. As
eons pass, the islands themselves slowly sink beneath the oceans and only the fringing
reefs remain, like a skeleton of a vanished island, but still alive. The corals continue to
grow until the reef eventually forms a ring, usually with a lagoon at the center, as is the
case with both the north and south atolls of Tubbataha.

The name “Tubbataha” came from the language of the Samal, a seafaring people
of the Sulu Sea. The term refers to “a long reef exposed at low tide,” an accurate
description of the reef crests marking the atolls’ edges. Although the Samals bestowed
the name by which the reefs became known, Tubbataha is more closely associated with
the islands of Cagayancillo, the nearest human settlement. The reefs were traditionally
called “Gusong” by the Cagayanons, the people of Cagayancillo. They, along with the
Samals, Badjaos and Tausugs, have been the traditional users of Tubbataha’s
resources. No humans have settled on the islands through the ages because of the
absence of fresh water.

Tubbataha Reefs was declared a protected area in 1988. Now called the
Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park (TRNP), it is the only purely marine park in Southeast
Asia inscribed as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) World Heritage Natural Site (WHNS) due to its Outstanding Universal Value
(OUV). As one of the remaining reefs in the Philippines belonging to the 1% that are still
in excellent condition, the TRNP is naturally a Major SCUBA diver draw.

Visitor arrival in TRNP has been generally increasing since 2002 with an average
annual growth of 9% despite the downtrend in 2012 and 2013.The increase of visitor
arrivals to the park can be attributed to the recognition of various media outlets citing
the destination as one of the best dive spots in the world. Four significant downtrends
were observed in 2007, 2009, 2012, and 2013. They were either due to cancellation of
trips by the operators because of engine problems or due to inclement.

Environmental Positive and Negative impacts

Positive:
Tubbataha is a haven of diverse marine resources. It is also a source of local livelihood
and economy, a very significant part of the archipelago’s ecosystem. It also serves as a
leading marine tsunami barrier.

There have been instances where concerned visitors provide the park support through
grants and in-kind.

Livelihood projects and community development activities in the Municipality of

Cagayancillo, which has political jurisdiction over Tubbataha are conducted.
Tourism allows the public to access the park and, thus, educate and raise awareness
among its users.
Documentation through photography has been an important source of information for
the species present in the reef and the status of some of its areas.
Tourism increases partnerships, cooperation and collaboration through frequent
engagement with the stakeholders belonging to the various strata of the tourism
industry.

Medicine: The potential for treatments for many of the world's most prevalent and
dangerous illnesses and diseases.

Negative:
To the detriment of those benefits, however, coral reefs have been deteriorating under a
cascade of human impacts.
Recreational impacts on marine ecosystems and species caused by diver presence or
harassment, or from the feeding of marine life. In some cases, diving has been shown
to reduce fish abundance at high-use sites. Marine life interactions, such as fish
feedings and encounters with charismatic or rare species, are increasingly popular
activities for divers and snorkelers.
Invasive species can be spread through tourism and recreational activities such as
through transportation of ballast water, hull fouling of cruise ships, and fouling from
recreational boating (e.g., from hulls, outboard motors, live wells, water lines, fishing
gear and debris).
Trampling of corals is also common on shallow, near-shore reef flats and has led to
extensive damage in areas with high levels of human use.
Pathogens, possibly spread by global shipping, kill off corals and urchins.
Boat anchors can cause considerable damage to coral reefs, including coral breakage
and fragmentation. Larger ship anchors and heavy chains can break or dislodge corals,
resulting in damaging vast areas of coral reef.
Vessel groundings can result in catastrophic effects on coral reefs, not only smashing
and dislodging corals, but shattering the reef framework (e.g., the recent USS Guardian
havoc).
Now increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are causing ocean
waters to warm and making them more acidic. Warm water causes bleaching episodes
in which coral polyps expel the microscopic algae that live inside their tissues and
nourish them. Corals can recover, but the process stresses and may kill them.
Acidification, which occurs as seawater absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere, reduces the
amount of carbonate available for corals to build their skeletons, so reefs grow more
slowly and become weaker.
Prevention

The TRNP Act details in Section 35 (Enforcement of this Act, other Laws, Rules and
Regulations within the TRNP) there are various agencies responsible for implementing
it. Most of these agencies have enforcement powers vested upon them by the Philippine
government for specific concerns in addition to their primary mandate, they were tasked
under RA 10067 to enforce the TRNP Act.
The role of the Tubbataha Management Office (TMO) is to enable effective enforcement
by mobilizing resources, organizing necessary trainings, and coordinating with other
enforcement agencies and partners. It is tasked with ensuring that the human and
financial resources for executing the enforcement plan are in place. Another major role
of TMO in enforcement is ensuring positive morale amongst the enforcers. The
comprehensive training for Marine Park Rangers (MPR) aims, among other things, to
communicate to the law enforcement personnel the vision and mission for TRNP so that
the knowledge may serve as a unifying element between the various agency
representatives.
In order to maintain communication lines between field and office personnel open and to
maintain continuous flow of information critical to management decision-making, pre-
departure briefings and debriefings are conducted before and after each tour of duty.
Field personnel are reminded of their roles and informed of new developments in the
management of Tubbataha. The debriefings open the stage for MPRs to give feedback
and recommendations on improvements or changes in logistics, guidelines,
enforcement practice, etc..
TMO, together with the Philippine Navy, serve as the first point of contact of MPRs to
the mainland, especially in the occurrence of unusual incidents. Reporting enforcement
incidents to TMO promptly eliminates the prospect for MPRs to ‘settle’ issues directly
with violators. The Protected Area Superintendent and staff (PASu) acts as the
complainant in illegal use cases in TRNP except, when other agencies are competent to
enforce the same law, e.g., poaching, in which case, BFAR would serve as a co-
complainant.
Tubbataha: A Jewel for divers. Since divers discovered Tubbataha in the late 1970s,
it has become recognized as one of the most remarkable coral reefs on our planet.

Mother Marina. It is the habitat of thousands of sea creatures.

A Silent Disaster. USS Guardian(MCM 5) had to be dismantled piece by piece to
prevent it from damaging the coral further.

Suggestion on How to save.

The action should start on the people, especially those who are benefited by the
attraction. There should be an awareness of conservation issues to the common people
and not just to those who are working on the area. The production and distribution of
information materials should be promoted, at the same time generating support for
Tubbataha and encouraging voluntary compliance of Park regulations. Thus, a sense of
stewardship can be fostered towards the marine environment as an interrelated and
interdependent ecosystem.

Encourage tree planting activities. Trees reduce runoff into the oceans. It will also
contribute to reversing the warming of our planet and the rising temperatures of our
oceans.

Tourism supports research. Visitors to the park could participate in data gathering for
the scientific studies carried out by the TMO, through a crowd sourcing methods.

Researches about the water, measure of its bacteria level should be conducted so that
they can determine its safety for the marine species in the area and to know if it has a
significant effect on the corals.
Reward those who will report dumping or other illegal activities. Environmental
enforcement cannot be everywhere, and involvement can make a big difference.

Restricting access in some areas, especially to those areas who are near to the large
reefs.

References:

1. http://tubbatahareef.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/TRNP-
Comprehensive-Tourism-Management-Plan_final-2013
2. http://wwf.org.ph/wwf3/downloads/publications/TubbatahaCaseStudy
3. http://tubbatahareef.org/wordpress/?m=201302
4. http://tubbatahareef.org/wordpress/wp-
content/uploads/2012/11/Compliance-and-Enforcement-Plan-2012.
5. http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/urgentissues/coralreefs/ways-to-help-
coral-reefs/index.htm
6. http://www.reefresilience.org/coral-reefs/stressors/local-stressors/coral-
reefs-tourism-and-recreational-impacts/