Tourism_Whale Shark_Philippines

Emma_Hemmerle — Thu, 06 Jan 2022 11:39:34 +0000

Tourism_Whale Shark_Philippines Emma_Hemmerle Thu, 01/06/2022 - 11:39

Tue, 01/01/2019 - 12:00

Affiliation

IIED

Date Of Record Entry

Thu, 01/06/2022 - 12:00

Type of wild species covered by the record

Wild species used in its natural habitat

Stage of the value chain covered by the record

Entire value chain

Record Source

Scientific publication (e.g., journal articles and book chapters independently peer-reviewed)

Linking livelihoods to improved biodiversity conservation through sustainable integrated coastal management and community based dive
tourism : Oslob Whale Sharks

Decreasing

Is the species endemic HIDE

Population Status

Unknown/not recorded

Formal international protection in place

International Level

CITES listing

CMS listing

National Level

Formal national protection in place

protected in the Philippines under the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act, 1998

Whale sharks are protected in Oslob waters by Bantay Dagat sea patrols and 24 h a day at Tan-awan by Bantay Dagat and residents.

Threats/Pressures impacting the conservation of the species

Energy Production and Mining

Transportation and Service Corridors

Illegal/Unregulated Fishing

Population Trend

Unknown/not recorded

Sub-national Level

Formal sub-national protection in place

Name

Emma Hemmerlé

Scientific Name

Rhincodon typus

Common Name(s)

Whale Shark

Type of Use

Non-Extractive

If extractive, for the target species, is this use

Non-Lethal

Does this use involve take/extraction of

The whole entire organism

How is the primary use carried out?

Watching/experiencing terrestrial, aerial, or aquatic fauna and flora in the wild (e.g., birdwatching, snorkeling, wildlife watching)

Are specific characteristics/traits being targeted?

Unknown/not recorded

Purpose of Use

Basic subsistence (meeting day to day essential needs)

Income generation from trade at individual or household or community

Additional Details (if available)

project set up as an alternative-livelihoods provision

What is the main end use for any living organisms, parts or products taken/extracted?

Conservation Management (translocation, restoration, ex-situ breeding)

What is the trend in the level of offtake within the period covered by this record?

Unknown/Not Recorded

Is there a regulatory or customary regime in place to govern this use?

Unknown/Not Recorded

Provide Details of resource rights regime where relevant

TOSWFA fishers paddle tourists out from the shore to watch or snorkel with whale sharks in banca (traditional outrigger canoes); Whale sharks follow feeders, or swim through the interaction area, free to come and go .

Geographic Location

South and Southeast Asia

Country

Philippines

Sub region/state

Oslob, Province of Cebu

Is the site legally/formally protected?

Unknown/not recorded

Ownership

Unknown/Not Recorded

Management

Unknown/Not Recorded

Local people (e.g., individuals, communities, co-operatives)

If more than one box ticked, please provide more details

177 local fishers benefits from this alternative livelihoods project

Is the use part of a strategy to generate conservation incentives, to finance conservation, or to improve tolerance/stewardship?

Yes

Is there evidence that the use is affecting the conservation status of the species? HIDE

Yes – use is improving the status (e.g., population is increasing or stabilising, extraction effort OR catch per unit effort is decreasing or stable)

Is there evidence that the use is affecting natural selection?

Unknown/not recorded

Is there evidence that the use is affecting poaching of illegal wildlife trade?

Yes, positive (use is helping combat poaching or illegal wildlife trade)

perception that whale sharks are now being protected from poaching.

Poaching is thought to have decreased due to the initiative

Is there any evidence that this use of the species is having a knock-on effect on the status of non-target species

Yes, it is having a positive effect (e.g., reduced competition, reduced risk of hybridization)

Yes, positive (e.g., it increases / retains land area for conservation)

Yes, considered sustainable

Additional Details (if available)

destructive fishing has decreased, while fish abundance, pelagic fish species and catch have increased. TOSWFA fishers, non-TOSWFA fishers, local government and Bantay Dagat report their perception that fish stocks have increased.

Additional Details (if available)

destructive fishing has decreased, while fish abundance, pelagic fish species and catch have increased. the project is reducing fishing effort, and changing livelihood strategies away from reliance on coral reef resources.
Challenges remain however. Visitor numbers grew quickly at Oslob Whale Sharks between 2012 and 2016, increasing from 62,703 in 2012 to 309,142 in 2016 (Fig. 3), a growth of 393% over the five year period (Fig. 4).
Tan-awan experiences negative impacts of coastal development, including chemical runoff from soap and shampoo in beachfront showers, inadequate sewerage at the visitor's centre, a lack of sewerage in coastal resorts and restaurants and rubbish discarded by tourists.

Details of assessment carried out

we found that Oslob Whale Sharks contributes to all nine factors required for sustainable integrated coastal management. Fishers and local authorities report their perception that whale sharks are protected from poaching and finning and destructive fishing has decreased, while fish abundance, pelagic fish species and catch have increased. Our findings further suggest that as there is little evidence that this type of tourism has any negative impacts on the biology or behaviour of whale sharks, Oslob Whale Sharks provides sustainable livelihoods and a delivery mechanism for sustainable integrated coastal management.
Oslob Whale Sharks produces three types of economic benefits; ticket income to Oslob and Tan-awan, alternative livelihoods and perceived improved fish catch

Has a valuation of financial flows from this use at the site/national/international level been recorded

Yes

Contribution to GDP

Unknown/not recorded

Food

Energy

Medicine/healthcare

Education

Training/Skills

Land/Resource Rights

Decision Making

Conflict- people

Conflict- wildlife

Climate Change

“the income [was] used to provide ... livelihood programs ... not only for Tan-awan but for the whole municipality. Aside from im- proving our district hospitals, providing infrastructure like opening schools, high schools and colleges ... we ... provide free medicines to our constituents, improved our rural health centres, we provide water system ... electricity for those that do not have ... purchase ambulance and many others. We cannot count the benefits we derived from these whale shark interactions ... for the whole of Oslob”.

Educating dive tourists contributes to sustainable integrated coastal management by protecting coral reef resources from damage caused by diver's fins and tanks, or by divers touching and disturbing megafauna [7,48,78]. Although Ziegler et al. [49], suggested that the 5min briefing given to tourists at Oslob Whale Sharks is insufficient for education, research shows that this is not likely to be the case [50,51]. Divers who hear a pre-dive environmental briefing of one to two sen- tences, reminding them that they are in a protected area and that touching or taking corals or marine resources is prohibited, cause sig- nificantly less damage to corals [51]. Briefings with sketches and dia- grams of the kind in use at Oslob Whale Sharks reduce rates of diver contact with animals

Oslob Whale Sharks has improved capacity for law enforcement by financing training and sea patrols, paying honoraria to 16 of the 32 Bantay Dagat and Philippines National Police when they join sea pa- trols to apprehended armed illegal fishers who resist arrest and com- mercial vessels fishing illegally too close to shore at night without lights.

Community meetings supported by Oslob Whale Sharks income build participation with structural engagement in decision making institutions by the most marginalised; fishers, seniors, women, and puroks and sitios.

Other Socio-Economic Impacts

Conservation finance: the project is allowing the financing of protection of whale sharks, as well as the management of five marine reserves

Has any assessment of socio-economic sustainability been recorded

Yes, considered sustainable

Has the use of the species been recorded as resulting in changes to human health in this record?

Unknown/not recorded

Has the species in use been noted as being of particular disease risk to humans?

Unknown/not recorded

Has the use of the species resulted in changes to animal welfare in this record?

Unknown/not recorded

Are there particular practices which have increased the risk to human or animal health or welfare in the use of this species?

Unknown/not recorded

Does the use of this species increase susceptibility to pathogen spread?

Unknown/not recorded

Strong community governance/institutions/rights for wildlife management

Present

Supportive policy and legislative framework

Present

Adequate capacity to implement and enforce governance arrangements

Present

Good alignment of legal protections with local cultural values and traditional

Absent

Support from NGOs

Absent

Support from Government

Present

High financial returns from use

Present

Abundant population of target species

Absent

Biological characteristics of target species

Absent

Capacity building of community

Present

Establishment and implementation of species and/or area management plan

Present

Effective private sector approach engagement through certification

Absent

Good Market Strategies

Absent

Is this use legal or illegal?

Legal under national law

Please provide details below of how these factors have contributed to the success OR lack of success of the SU initiative

Stakeholder consultation started with fishers, then broadened to the local government unit and barangay. Community groups including women, seniors, fishers and puroks and sitios2 are consulted at regular meetings that feed up through democratic processes to the office of the Mayor. National government departments including the Bureau of Fisheries and Agricultural Resources (BFAR), DENR and the Depart- ment of Tourism continue to monitor and engage with Oslob Whale Sharks. Oslob Whale Sharks contributes to economic returns by providing business income to Oslob and Tan-awan from ticket sales.
The generation of social and environmental benefits that are distributed equitably among stakeholders is a key factor in sustainable integrated coastal management

Source Reference(s)

Lowe, J., Tejada, J., & Meekan, M. (2019). Linking livelihoods to improved biodiversity conservation through sustainable integrated coastal management and community based dive tourism : Oslob Whale Sharks. Marine Policy, 108, 103630. doi: 10.1016/j.marpol.2019.103630

the Oslob whale shark project is based on the goal of improving biodiversity conservation through sustainable integrated coastal management. The project is developed in response to the urgent need to sustainably manage coral reef resources in less developed countries of the tropics

Threats/pressures impacting the species at the scale of this record

Illegal/Unregulated Fishing

How many people or households are involved in the use?

177

Who is involved in the use?

Unknown/Not Recorded

Is there any gender/age specificity in the various roles

Unknown/not recorded

How many of these local jobs accure to the following categories?

How many people outside the local area are employed

Is there any evidence of other economic benefits associated with this use beyond direct income and jobs

Yes