Philippines Receives Blue Park Award for Siete Pecados Marine Park
ATHENS 24 April 2024 – The Marine Conservation Institute presented the Philippines with a Blue Park Award for the Siete Pecados Marine Park. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Undersecretary Ernesto D. Adobo, Jr. received the Blue Park Award on behalf of the Philippines at the “Achieving 30x30 in the ocean: Recognizing local and national actions and announcing the 2024 Blue Park Awards”, an event at the sidelines of the 9th Our Ocean Conference (OOC9) held on 15-17 April 2024 in Athens, Greece. The side event aimed to increase momentum towards the Global Biodiversity Framework global target of protecting 30% of land and ocean by 2030 by announcing and showcasing contributions to the global target while underlining the need for new and existing MPAs to be high quality.
Siete Pecados is a locally managed Marine Protected Area (MPA) in Coron, Palawan that was established and implemented by local communities in partnership with their local governments. It is one of around 2,000 locally managed MPAs in the Philippines, which combined with the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS), contributes towards meeting the country’s targets towards the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
The Philippines also previously received two (2) Blue Park awards, in 2017 for Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park and in 2022 for the Apo Reef Natural Park (ARNP).
The Marine Conservation Institute is an international non-profit ocean conservation organization working to identify and protect vulnerable ocean ecosystems worldwide. The Marine Conservation Institute’ Blue Parks initiative incentivizes a global ocean refuge system to safeguard biodiversity in at least 30% of the ocean. Blue Park Awardees are outstanding MPAs recognized through the Blue Park Criteria, which provide a science-based standard for conservation effectiveness.
At the event’s high-level panel on local and national contributions to 30x30, Undersecretary Adobo highlighted that the Philippines, an archipelagic nation rich in biodiversity, is dedicated to significantly increase protected areas on both land and sea. He cited concrete actions of the Philippines, including the updating and implementation of the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, to accelerate the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, especially Target 3 or the 30x30 global conservation target.
The Philippines is the first country in the world to receive three (3) Blue Park Awards. END
