By Tristan Choa
Monday, May 05, 2008
MANILA, Philippines – Can we make it happen? Can our very own natural wonder?Tubbataha?be recognized as one of the seven new wonders of nature around the world?
Tubbataha is a reef ecosystem made up of two atolls that lie on the Cagayan Ridge 150 km southeast of Puerto Princesa, Palawan, and 130 km southwest of Cagayancillo, the municipality to which Tubbataha belongs. Together, these two dots in the middle of the Sulu Sea form the reef core, covering more than 30,000 hectares.
The Tubbataha reefs lie at the heart of the immense biodiversity found in the Coral Triangle, consisting of the Sulu Sea and the Sulawesi Sea and bordered by the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. This triangle is home to the richest and most diverse marine ecosystem in the world, with numerous species of fish, algae, sea grass, sea birds, whales and dolphins. The triangle gets its name from the roughly 450 species of coral found in these seas, compared to about 60 for the entire Caribbean.
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Despite the recognition, some sectors could not understand why Tubbataha needed extra measures to keep it protected. To Cagayanons, making the reef off-limits to fishing deprived them of a means of livelihood. By the same token, Palaweńos, after over-fishing the waters off Eastern Palawan, felt left with no alternative. Poachers couldn’t see beyond immediate dollars and cents, while divers were unaware of the full impact of their presence. Meanwhile, the answers that researchers and scientists had coaxed out of the waters were no match for the public’s short attention span for ecosystems it couldn’t see.
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