Working with fishing villages and municipal governments to build and strengthen community-based coastal fisheries management of the Philippines’ municipal waters.

In particular, the mangroves, coral reefs and sea-grasses provide co-benefits in that they are major carbon sinks (absorbing and storing carbon emissions and keeping them out of the atmosphere) but even more importantly for these climate-vulnerable coastal communities, they can provide some protection against climate impacts such as extreme weather events (storms and hurricanes), sea-level rise and coastal erosion. The success of the innovative Managed Access Areas for fisheries and marine protected areas also depend on the resilience of these ecosystems to climate impacts.

Mayor Proserfina Coro of Del Carmen stresses the importance of protecting the extensive mangrove forests in the municipality, which sits on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean, for the benefit of present and future generations. “Studies show that in the entire Siargao islands, Del Carmen would be the first to get hit by a tidal wave if there’s a tsunami or storm surge, so mangroves are very critical in protecting us,” she said.

The Philippines’ coastal waters are a life-giving and vital natural resource for the 1.9 million registered small-scale fishers and their families who rely on these waters to provide income and food. 85% of Filipino fishers are coastal, small-scale fishers, and catch nearly half of the Philippines’ fish. Further, the Philippines’ fisheries sector generates upwards of $3.3 billion/year; and the majority of the country’s population of 107 million live in coastal cities and municipalities.