Effective Management and Sustainable Financing of Coral Reef Marine Protected Areas in the Philippines

The Mindoro and Palawan islands in the Philippines are home to some of the most productive and biodiverse marine ecosystems in the world. These marine ecosystems impact the livelihoods of over two million people, most of them living under poverty levels. However, the effects of global climate change, such as increases in sea surface temperatures, sea level rise, and shifts in the frequency and intensity of rainfall and storms have impacted the region. This, coupled with local impacts and weak natural resource management, threatens these ecosystems. Adequate funding is another issue, along with temperamental grant financing and low private investment.

The Blue Alliance has built a scalable conservation model for large scale Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), to be managed and financed for decades to come, regenerating coral reef ecosystems and improving the food security and climate resilience for local communities. It manages, together with the government, large MPAs in the Philippines and runs and owns bankable social enterprises in the blue economy to alleviate poverty and generate long-term income for MPA management. It has developed a Blue Economy Investment Facility, blending catalytic capital with impact loans.

Project Achievements

1. Strengthened Co-management Across 350,000 Hectares of MPAs in Mindoro and Palawan: Enhanced protection of marine areas, improving food security and climate resilience for more than 34,000 household members. 

2. Secured Impact Investment Commitments: Confirmed funding from two impact investors for a US$0.8M loan and refundable grant, with ongoing discussions with two additional investors for a US$2.4M performance-based loan. 

3. Advanced Community-Based Blue Economy Enterprises: Engaged two social enterprises focused on community-based aquaculture and ecotourism, while progressing in feasibility stage with two additional enterprises in sustainable fishery and blue carbon. 

4. Established Key Performance Indicators: Agreed on KPI for monitoring biodiversity, people, and climate. 

5. Created Local Employment Opportunities: Generated 35 jobs within MPAs and associated social enterprises during the grant period. 

6. Developing Five Livelihood Programmes.  Supporting livelihoods in fisheries, ecotourism, community-based aquaculture, and mangrove restoration.