The safeguarding of Philippine marine protected areas (MPAs) would improve if local communities were given incentives to protect these areas, several marine experts said on Monday. Human activities such as fishing were strictly regulated in MPAs, which also serves as sanctuaries for endangered species. There were 1,500 MPAs in the country but only less than one percent was being actively protected, according to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR). The BFAR added that the percentage of country's marine areas being protected was far short of the 15 percent target set under the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998 and the 10 percent target under the Aichi Convention on Biological Diversity.

Incentives would improve MPA protection efforts, experts say. (2019, June 29). Panay News, p. B10.