Many key biodiversity areas in the Philippines remain unprotected, and measures that seek to protect these, including natural resources in the disputed West Philippine Sea , are imperative.
“Biodiversity creates the conditions for human existence and the ability to survive it provides the water we drink, the air we breathe, the food we eat, the shelter [we need],” she said. For the fish, habitats like mangroves, seagrass, and corals are important for them to survive, she added. According to Ablan-Lagman, House Bill 6373, or the KIG Scarborough Shoal Marine Protected Area Bill, and Senate Bill 1697, or an Act declaring the three nautical miles surrounding the KIG Group and the Scarborough Shoal in the WPS as a Marine Protected Area under Republic Act 7586 or the National Integrated Protected Areas System of 1992 as amended by Republic Act 11038 or the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 2019 are a welcome initiative, given that biodiversity in...
She noted that China, for one, has unilaterally declared a ban on fishing in the disputed areas, which is pushing Filipino fishermen away from their traditional fishing grounds. Other claimant countries, she noted, also have fishing policies that may be in conflict with that of other claimants to territories being disputed in fish-rich areas.