UP marine experts to assess damage to WPS corals

MANILA, Philippines —  It will take years or even decades for the coral reefs destroyed by the Chinese in Rozul (Iroquious) Reef and Escoda Shoal in the West Philippine Sea to return to life or get restored with human intervention, a marine science expert from the University of the Philippines said yesterday.

In an interview with ANC, UP Marine Science Institute (UPMSI) associate professor Vanessa Baria-Rodriguez made the assessment based on initial findings of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on the extent of the destruction of the corals.

Rodriguez, who is also the deputy director of the Bolinao Marine Laboratory, said a panel of experts that she heads would make a trip to affected areas to make its own assessment, with the help of the PCG.

“The whole team in the UPMSI will be joining, together with (members) of the Philippine Coast Guard. We will have a meeting to finalize what we will do,” Rodriguez said.

“We still have to check what are the species there because… different species of corals have different growth (rates) so basically it will take long years for you to recover,” she said.

A “totally dead reef” would achieve natural recovery after “several decades,” but restoration efforts would shorten the recovery time, she added.

“We need a source of corals for it to recover, like semilla in the area or in the nearby reefs in Iroquois Reef and active transplantation will be done,” Rodriguez added.

Rodriguez said the coral reefs are very important as they serve as breeding ground for fish.

“The coral reefs are the home of fish. If the coral reefs are gone, there will be no breeding ground for small fish and eventually will result in the disappearance of fish,” she pointed out.

Rodriguez added that results of their evaluation would also determine the value of the damage to the coral reefs, which can be used as basis for filing an environmental case against the perpetrators.

Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra on Wednesday said the Philippines is considering filing a case before an international tribunal to make China accountable for environmental depredation.

“That (total value of damaged coral reefs) can be looked into as we will determine the extent of the damaged area and once we determine the damage, we can compute how much the value of the damaged area is,” Rodriguez said.

She stressed the government should finance the fact-finding mission. “(We will need) funding as it is an offshore (assessment) and it is far, around 300 kilometers actually from the mainland of Palawan. It is costly to sail as we need to stay there to monitor,” she said.

Affected countries

Other countries, she said, have also been affected by the destruction of coral reefs in the West Philippine Sea.

“We will have problem in the food supply as the West Philippine Sea in general, is called ecologically as source and sink, ‘sink’ meaning it is a recipient of fish in nearby islands, source meaning it provides fish for the nearby islands or nearby countries, in fact among the countries that can be affected are Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and China,” Rodriguez added.

She said that a full assessment may be completed in one to two weeks.

“We are now finalizing our schedule with the Philippine Coast Guard. It may take one week but for more details, it will take two weeks,” she said.

At the same time, Rodriguez said that the Armed Forces of the Philippines should make sure no other activity takes place in Rozul Reef while the assessment work is ongoing.

“Ideally, there should be no activity in the affected reefs. We will go there basically to assess the whole area, the extent of the damaged reefs,” Rodriguez said.

She said harassment from Chinese vessels is possible, hence the need for security guarantee from the AFP.

“We hope that the tailing of Chinese militia can be prevented, hopefully we will not experience it so we are praying in case we will sail in the area,” she pointed out.

Earlier underwater surveys conducted by the PCG confirmed previous reports by the military regarding significant loss of marine life around Rozul Reef and Escoda Shoal.

“The results of these surveys showed that the marine ecosystem in the subject West Philippine Sea features appeared lifeless, with minimal to no signs of life,” the PCG said in a statement.

Crushed corals found indicated a potential act of dumping, possibly involving the same dead corals that were previously processed and cleaned before being returned to the seabed, the PCG said.

While ship grounding could have also caused the devastation, according to Rodriguez, PCG spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said that underwater survey activities in Escoda Shoal showed “visible discoloration of its seabed,” indicating “deliberate activities” intended to modify the natural underwater topography. –  Rudy Santos