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Working hand in hand with the Project Aquatic World
Awareness Responsibility and Education (AWARE) Foundation of
Australia and the Philippine National Police Scuba Divers
Association (PNPSDA), oil industry leader Petron recently put in its
most valuable resources to protect the coastal waters of San Luis,
Batangas.
The coastal clean-up campaign
aims to protect fragile coral reefs by deploying mooring buoys and
collecting underwater garbage. A total of 10 buoys were mounted
along popular dive sites in San Luis, Lemery and Anilao, Batangas.
With the installation of mooring
buoys, boatmen can now secure their boats by tying up to the buoys
instead of dropping heavy anchors, which can scrape and damage
corals underneath. Coral reefs are the rainforests of the sea,
sheltering diverse marine species for a sustainable coastal
ecosystem. Considering its significant role in marine life, damaged
coral reefs have severe repercussions as it takes a long time for a
coral to grow under normal conditions. Studies show that it takes
one year to grow a meager centimeter of coral.
Besides deploying buoys,
shoreline and underwater garbage were also collected by volunteers
to clean up the coastal waters. The total haul of the volunteer
divers was a whopping 90 kilograms of garbage.
Angelo Sunglao, PNP Maritime
Command director, an avid environmental advocate and scuba diver
himself, graced the ceremonies and expressed his appreciation for
the efforts of the 63 volunteer divers who participated in the
two-day clean-up. “It’s one small step, but one big start to
create awareness that our seas and reefs should be part of pour
responsibility as caretakers of the planet. If only we could all do
our share to protect the environment, at least to keep it clean,
then nature will always be willing to give back its bounty to us,”
Sunglao stressed.
According to the World Bank 2005
Philippine Environment Monitor, one square kilometer of healthy
coral reef generates an estimated P2.5 million from the fishing and
tourism industries. Unfortunately, reports show that over 70 percent
of our reefs are damaged and that only 4 to 5 percent are in
excellent condition.
In supporting the activity,
Virginia Ruivivar, Petron corporate affairs manager, noted, “The
company sees the importance of conserving our marine resources, and
recently signed a strategic agreement with the World Wide Fund for
Nature (WWF) to expand conservation efforts in the Tubbataha Reef,
Southeast Asia’s only Unesco World Heritage Site in the marine
environment. Petron has committed up to P50 million over the next
five years to fund programs aimed at improving livelihood, food
security and sustainable natural resource management in the
municipality of Cagayancillo which has jurisdiction over the
reef.”
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