Technical presentations

RESILIENCY AND VULNERABILITY OF THE

COASTAL ZONE AGAINST SEA LEVEL RISE
Samuel S. Mamauag, Ph.D.
Marine Environment and Resources Foundation, Inc.,
Marine Science Institute, U.P. Diliman, Quezon City

1. Rationale in their geographic ranges, whether local or regional,

because of their evolutionary and ecological traits (e.g.
The Philippines is an archipelagic state with more than Anderson 1981; Veron 1995).
7,000 islands, with a total coastline of around 37,008
km (SCTR Report 2012). The Philippines’ warm tropical In the past decade, advances in ecological and genetic
coastal waters are highly productive, more so that studies revealed connectivity among marine populations
there are around 2,227,400 ha of coral reefs, more than and habitats (e.g. Palumbi 2003). There has been an
200,000 ha of mangrove areas, and almost 100,000 ha increasing interests specifically on habitat connectivity,
of seagrass beds (SCTR Report 2012). These nearshore where coral reef fishes migrate ontogenetically within
habitats harbor thousands of marine species, resulting in the mangrove-seagrass-reef habitat mosaic (Mumby et
its recognition as the global center of marine biodiversity al. 2004, Nagelkerken 2009). This further emphasized
(Roberts et al. 2002) particularly for its nearshore fishes the importance of these coastal adjacent habitats in
(e.g. Carpenter & Springer 2005). Altogether, these the tropics. A large-sized grouper, the orange-spotted
provide vital ecosystem goods and services that are grouper Epinephelus coioides, which has a high fishery
highly beneficial to human society (De Groot et al. 2002). value in the Philippines, exemplifies this behavioral trait
One of the most salient ecological goods that can be (e.g. Mamauag et al. 2009).
derived from these ecosystems is fisheries for food, as
well as livelihood to many fishers–especially in the small 3. Threats and Pressure
artisanal scale (e.g. Worm et al. 2009). There is high value
in fisheries, especially for small pelagic catches (e.g. SCTR The Philippines has a large human population, which
Report 2012). Moreover, ecosystems (e.g. coral reefs and recently passed the 100 million mark and it is still
mangroves) also provide indirect benefits such as coastal growing without any sign of slowing down. Sixty percent
protection to climate stressors (e.g. wave surge) to reduce of the inhabitants reside within 100 km of the coasts;
impact of disasters (see Villanoy et al. 2013). Therefore, hence, a significant proportion of the population is highly
under a changing climate, it is imperative to determine dependent on the resources found in the coastal areas.
the vulnerability of the coastal ecosystems (e.g. Licuanan This increases the pressure on coastal ecosystems and
et al. 2015). jeopardizes their health and condition (e.g. Gjertsen,
2005). These pressures take the form of rising coastal
2. Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem function development, increasing levels of pollution and
sedimentation, and increasing densities of fishers, leading
There are around 2,351 species of demersal fishes to overfishing and destructive fishing practices (Burke et
recorded so far in the coastal waters of the country; many al. 2012; MSN Threat Assessment Workshop 2014).
of these are commercially important (SCTR Report 2012).
Corals total to 533 species, mangroves to 42 species, and 4. Climate Change
seagrasses to 16 species. These are distributed in their
local geographic ranges; but are quite more abundant in There is another form of threat that exacerbates the
the central and western parts of the country (i.e. Visayas present situation in the Philippines: climate change.
Region, West Philippine Sea, Sulu Sea, and Celebes Sea) Increasing sea surface temperature (SST), frequent storms
compared to the eastern side (i.e. northern Philippine with highly variable tracks, and sea level rise are just some
Sea and southern Philippine Sea). Marine species have of the evident characteristics of climate change (e.g. IPCC
vital roles in an ecological domain. These species persist Report 2012). Species found in coastal ecosystems have

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various degrees of sensitivity to variations in the climate exposure to threats), and enhance adaptive capacity (e.g.
(e.g. Cheung et al. 2009; Hoegh-Guldberg 2011, Munday provide capacity building mechanisms for the managers/
et al. 2012; Lovelock et al. 2015) that indicates that they stakeholders). The ICSEACC is relatively easy to use and
try to develop adaptation measures (e.g. Johnson & Welch permits participatory approach among stakeholders (e.g.
2009, Mamauag et al. 2013). Coral bleaching events have local government officials). It aims to provide insights for
been occurring in the world (e.g. Hoegh-Guldberg 2007), resilient coastal ecosystems, by not only focusing on the
including the Philippines. This was mainly attributed biological and physical aspects, but also by addressing
to the anomalous rise in the SST during the El Niño social inadequacies.
phenomenon in 1998 (e.g. Arceo et al. 2001).
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