Assessment of Looc Marine Sanctuary Management: A Case Study of Management Effectiveness using MPA-MEAT in Looc, Romblon

Abstract

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are tools in promoting the health of coastal and marine resources through sustainable means of protection and management. MPAs in the country buffer the loss of heavily exploited species thereby allowing an increase in yields and consequently the reduction of conflicts in fishery stakeholders. Looc is a coastal municipality located in the Province of Romblon. Its Bay serves as a fishing ground for its 12 barangays, with nine located near the coastline and the remaining three as non-coastal. With the increasing programs, projects and activities geared in enhancing the marine protected areas, there is a need to assess the management effectiveness of Looc Marine Santuary. This was done in this study using a Philippine-tailored fit assessment tool known as MPA-MEAT (Marine Protected Area – Management Effectiveness Assessment Tool) (CTI-CFF, 2009) together with other tools such as key informant interviews, focus group discussions (FGD), and survey questionnaires. Results showed that the Looc Marine Sanctuary was effectively strengthened with a 59 cumulative score of Level II thresholds reached. The strength of the Sanctuary was in the enforcement and paralegal aspects (100%) as well as community participation (100%). The gaps included the lack of organized filing system for updating (loss of component percentage – 23% from Management Plan and 10% from Management Body), lack of enhanced IEC campaigns for innovation (14%) and the lack of a clear, detailed and routine internal performance monitoring for management effectiveness (44%). The results of the study suggest that management gaps can be met through a comprehensive and timely internal assessment of benchmarked management deliverables augmented with an innovative IEC which would clearly indicate the mission of the MPA.