Save The Philippine Seas

I first knew about the issues at the Philippine seas from 'I am but Gagay'. GG was blogging about 'Help Save The Philippine Seas and Coral Reefs'. In her post, she said that we need not only blog about it on June 8 Blog Action Day but also everyday. She was right!

Even tho' the Blog Action Day was over, I think we ought to help spread the words. There are still alot of peoples out there who doesn't know what is happening at the Philippine Seas, I am sure about this statement because I was one of them. If GG had not blog about it, I would still be clueless about it. (Thanks, GG! :*)

Ok, so what is happening at the Philippine seas? They are under attack!

Exploitative foreign firms are illegally harvesting their precious coral reefs. We are not looking at 10-30 pieces of corals, but thousands of thousands pieces.

...harvest of 21,000 pieces of black coral, 161 endangered turtles was killed...

In one case, coral reefs twice the size of Manila was destroyed. The crime was described as 'the rape of the ocean'. During their harvest of 21,000 pieces of black coral, 161 endangered turtles were killed. One of the turtles was a male aged 80-100 years old.

According to Ludivina Labe, a senior marine biologist of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), “It took 25 years or even more for these corals to grow like this. They grow only one centimeter a month,”

Even tho' the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora has banned the harvesting of black coral, the practice continues. One of the reason is because of demand from the multibillion-dollar marine ornamental industry for exotic decorative species and the increasing popularity of coral-accented jewelry and fashion accessories.

If this continue, I can't begin to imagine what will happen to the Philippine seas or the world. Because it is not only that there will be not much coral reefs left, but the whole marine ecosystem will be disturbed. One thing leads to another, and at the end, we, human have to bear he consequences of these inhuman act.

'Save the Philippine seas,
because our seas save us.'
What we can do to play our part in saving the Philippine seas?
- Do not buy any coral oriented jewelry, fashion accessories or products.
- Spread the words around. Please visit 'Save the Philippine Seas' website to read more.