Rey Anthony H. Chiu
Two foreign-funded projects are now implemented in Bohol, both of them helping address Bohol’s environment and sustainable development in line with the provincial vision.
German Development Corporation GIZ) funds one project, the Promotion for Green Economic Development (ProGED) implemented by the Department of Trade and Industry and The United States Agency for International Development (USAid) funds Ecosystems Improved for Sustainable Fisheries (EcoFISH).
EcoFISH is a project implemented by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Interior and Local Government and the Local government Units, according to Anecita Gulayan, project site coordinator for Bohol.
While ProGED is piloted in Bohol and builds on the gains of an earlier project called Small and Medium Enterprise Development for Sustainable Employment Program (SMEDSEP), EcoFISH is in other areas across the country where there is a need for communities to promote growth and profitability of fisheries.
EcoFISH also builds on the platforms established by an earlier FISH project that ably showed that fish decline can be arrested and reversed and that effective governance are keys to the success and sustainability of fish management.
EcoFISH does this by conservation of the health of ecosystems and the sustainable and efficient management of the fisheries areas of Danajon Reef areas in Bohol, Lingayen Gulf in Pangasinan, Verde Passage in Mindoro, Calamian Group of Islands in Palawan, Lagonoy Gulf in Bicol, South Negros Islands, surigao Sur and Norte as well as in Sulu Islands, Gulayan explains.
We have the most productive fishing grounds in Bohol but our demands are exceeding the supply so that even fishing communities are submerged deeper in poverty as more and more fishermen catch fewer fish, EcoFISH presentation showed.
“Fish stocks are dwindling and fish catch are declining due to overfishing and unsustainable/ illegal fishing practices…., Gulayan, who worked with FISH pointed out.
And just as ProGED uses its Green Value Chain Promotion, Green Local and Regional Economic Development Approach and Green Market System Development, EcoFISH on the other hand uses a tested Eco-systems approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM).
Despite tremendous gains in management, the country is losing about US$120 million in economic benefits per year, half of which due to unsustainable fishing practices. Clearly there is a need for more interventions designed to address unsustainable fishing through the ecosystem approach that builds on what the country has already been doing, she reasoned why EAFM.
Coral reefs, seagrass, mangroves, estuaries, play a critical role in the life cycle of fishes. Maintenance of healthy ecosystems is imperative to fishes’ natural regeneration and recruitment. Fishes’ migratory nature calls for wider collaborative governance and institutional arrangements, Gulayan added.
Ecofish is an integrated approach to address the intertwined problems of marine ecosystem degradation, fish stock depletion and poverty and it integrates biological, socio-economic and governance perspectives in fisheries management, taking into account local contexts and needs, according to Gulayan.
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Topic: Foreign Funded Projects in Bohol (Read 1310 times)