Philippines’ Siete Pecados Marine Park in Palawan Wins Blue Park Award
ATHENS 26 April 2024 – The Siete Pecados Marine Park located in Palawan, Philippines received the Blue Park Award during a brief ceremony held on 17 April 2024 at the sidelines of the 9th Our Ocean Conference at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) in Athens, Greece.
Undersecretary for Legal Administration Ernesto D. Adobo, Jr. of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) received the award on behalf of Park Manager Jose Mazo and Barangay Captain of Barangay. Tagumpay and Co-Chairperson of the Management Committee Cliff Astor who were unable to attend.
Undersecretary Adobo said that Siete Pecados is an outstanding example of a locally managed Marine Protected Area (MPA), established and implemented by local communities in collaboration with their local governments. He noted that there are close to 2,000 locally managed MPAs in the Philippines and the DENR recognizes that combined with the National Integrated Protected Areas System, these MPAs make invaluable contributions towards meeting the Philippines’ targets towards the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. He also said that the country is committed to advancing a whole-of-society approach towards protecting marine resources and ensuring that the benefits of food, livelihood, tourism and other ecosystem services are sustained for the people and the planet.
This is the third time for the Philippines to win the Blue Park Award organized by the Marine Conservation Institute (MCI). The other two winners are Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park (2017) and Apo Reef Natural Park (2022). END
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