Outstanding MPA Recognized by MSN

The 2011 MPA Awards and Recognition event was held last night (August 31, 2011) at the Bahay ng Alumni, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City. This event was organized by the Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Support Network [MSN] in cooperation with the Foundation for the Philippine Environment (FPE), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, USAID- Philippine Environmental Governance Project (ECOGOV), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Department of Environment and Natural Resources - Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (DENR-PAWB), the Department of Agriculture - Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR), the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute (UPMSI), Marine Environment and Resources Foundation (MERF), Coral Triangle Support Partnership (CTSP): World Wildlife Fund (WWF), The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International-Philippines, together with the Department of Science and Technology - Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research & Development (DOST-PCAMRD), Pacific Rim Innovation and Management Exponents (PRIMEX) and the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc.

The MPA Support Network is a multi-sectoral group of organizations representing academic institutions, national government agencies, non-governmental organizations and people’s organizations. Since 2007, MSN has organized this biennial event dubbed as, the “Para el MAR” or MPA Awards and Recognition event. The Para el MAR helps promotes MPA good practices through an incentive system where the MPAs with exemplary management practices are being recognized and their good practices are used as model for other MPAs to follow.


For the 3rd Para el MAR, winners were chosen from 117 nominations representing 17 provinces all over the country. Out of these, 14 finalists stood out based on their level of management effectiveness, scores and MPA size. Field evaluation was conducted by MSN members and partners to determine the top three winners. The general criteria used for the final evaluation were: (1) Management effectiveness, (2) bio-physical and ecological impacts, (3) social and economic benefits of the MPA.


A special award was given to Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park for being a UNESCO heritage park and protecting more than 90,000 hectares of biologically diverse marine area. Unlike the previous Para el MAR in 2007 and 2009, top 4 MPAs were awarded last night. Two MPAs shared the third prize, these are, Twin Rocks Fish Sanctuary in Mabini, Batangas and Tambunan Marine Protected Area, Tabina, Zamboanga del Sur; the 2nd prize went to Bangrin Mangrove Marine Protected Area, Bani, Pangasinan and the top prize was awarded to the most outstanding MPA of 2011, Bangaan Marine Sanctuary, Tungawan, Zamboanga Sibugay. The winners received cash prizes from sponsors (1st prize, FPE: 100,000; 2nd prize, DOST-PCAMRD: 50,000; 3rd prize, DA-BFAR: 35,000 each). The aim of this cash incentive is to further support their MPA management activities and projects.

The event was attended by directors of DENR-PAWB, DOST-PCAMRD, DA-BFAR, representatives of the sponsoring organizations, mayors of the MPA finalists, other Local government units, press people, MSN partners and other guests. The special guest speaker was Congressman Erin Tañada who was represented by his chief of staff, Ms. Jessica Cantos. The event was enlivened by theater actors, Ms. Bibeth Orteza and Mr. Joel Saracho as the program hosts. The awards night ended with a speech by Dir. Cesario Pagdilao of DOST-PCAMRD and by Dr. Perry Aliño, the MSN Coordinator. Richard N. Muallil, Marine Science Institute, UP Diliman