Coastal and Marine Biodiversity Conservation in Mindanao

In this project, the GEF would aim to finance the incremental costs of promoting coastal and marine biodiversity conservation and sustainable use in the coastal waters of Mindanao, Philippines. Mindanao has received little attention to date with regard to conservation of its marine biodiversity resources. The GEF-assisted Coastal and Marine and Biodiversity Conservation Component (CMBC) of the proposed Mindanao Rural Development Project (MRDP) will remove the barriers to mainstreaming marine and coastal biodiversity conservation in coastal zone development by: (a) establishing community-based management of marine sanctuaries; (b) strengthening local capacity to address marine ecosystem management issues; (c) enhancing the knowledge base for sound ecosystem management and decision- making, including monitoring and evaluation for sustainable long-term marine ecosystem management; and (d) developing policy and action plans for marine biodiversity conservation and mainstreaming it into coastal development plans. The concept is based on the precept and the experiences that show that good marine management can simultaneously conserve and protect biodiversity and increase fisheries productivity. These activities would have considerable replication potential in Mindanao as part of the MRDP that would be an Adaptable Lending Program of 10-12 year duration. The lessons learned during the first three-year phase would be applied to subsequent phases when additional coastal provinces would be included under the MRDP with the cumulative experience strengthening implementation of the CMBC. These lessons would also have applicability in other regions of the Philippines and other tropical countries.