ILOILO City – To mark Coral Triangle Day today, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Region 6 is conducting a coastal and underwater cleanup and crown of thorns starfish (COTS) collection competition in Boracay Island.
Spearheaded by the Conservation and Development Division (CDD) of DENR-6, the activities will be participated by divers from different associations in Boracay.
The Coral Triangle is 647 million hectares of land and sea, spanning the territories of Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste.
Named for its staggering number of corals (nearly 600 different species of reef-building corals alone), the region nurtures six of the world’s seven marine turtle species and more than 2,000 species of reef fish.
The Coral Triangle also supports large populations of commercially important tuna, fueling a multi-billion dollar global tuna industry.
“Our country is the most diverse among the mega-diverse countries in the world when it comes to marine biodiversity. This reality comes with a huge responsibility to conserve and protect it,” said DENR-6 director Jim Sampulna.
Over 120 million people live in the Coral Triangle and rely on its coral reefs for food, income and protection from storms.
“We at the DENR will do our best to protect, conserve and save our precious marine biodiversity,” said Sampulna.
The Coral Triangle Day is envisioned to be an annual, open-sourced event that brings together individuals, organizations, and establishments on one special day of the year to shed light on ocean conservation and the numerous ways to protect and conserve the Coral Triangle.
Winners of the COTS collection competition will be based on the weight of the collected crown of thorns.
Crown of thorns starfish is covered with long, poisonous spines. They range in color from purplish blue to reddish-gray to green, and prey on nearly all corals. Their feeding preferences and behavior patterns vary with population density, water motion, and species composition.
“We’re introducing a twist to the usual cleanup activity that we do. Thus, this COTS competition. Cleaning the environment should be fun as well,” said Sampulna.
The 2018 Coral Triangle Day theme is “Together for our Reefs.” It encourages all sectors to work together to address the different challenges affecting the health of coral reefs. (DENR-6/PN)
