Top Scientists Convene to Assess the Conservation Status

Top Scientists Convene to Assess the Conservation Status

LIAN, Batangas - Internationally acclaimed marine scientists are in the Philippines to attend the Global Mangrove IUCN (World Conservation Union) Mangrove Workshop and the Indo-Pacific Seagrass Red List Assessment Workshop at Matabungkay Beach Resort in Lian, Batangas. From March 8-16, 2008, at least 30 scientists will be analyzing existing data to classify marine species according to IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria.

Mangroves are trees and shrubs that grow in salt-water coastal habitats and are considered self-sustaining ecosystems important to biodiversity. Seagrasses are flowering plants which grow in salty water. They are highly diverse and productive ecosystems feeding fish, algae, geese, swans, crabs, dugongs and hundreds of associated species.

Prominent marine biologist Dr. Kent Carpenter of the Old Dominion University (U.S.A) and the IUCN heads the mangrove workshop while Dr. Frederick Short, project director of the Western Pacific Seagrass Monitoring Program and Over-all Project Leader of SeagrassNet, heads the seagrass workshop. They are joined by Dr. Jurgenne Primavera, Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center-Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC-AQD) Scientist Emeritus and Pew Fellow . Primavera is the Philippines’ foremost expert on mangroves.

First Philippine Conservation, Inc. (FPCI), a non-stock, non-profit foundation affiliated with the Lopez Group, is hosting the event. FPCI is currently implementing the Project Center of Center, an integrated coastal resource conservation and development program in the Verde Island Passage in Batangas and Reef Natural Park in Mindoro Occidental. The project is part of the Center of the Center Campaign which began in 2004 where Carpenter presented the results of his and Dr. Victor Springer’s study indicating that the area of the Verde Island Passage has the world’s highest concentration of marine species - both diversity and endemism. Part of the project’s commitment is the hosting of the Global Marine Species Assessment – Coral Triangle (GMSA-CT) field station in the Philippines, the global project’s only field station outside of the United States.

GMSA is a global project of the IUCN-The World Conservation Union and Conservation International which intends to assess the conservation status of some 20,000 marine species over a period of three years. The 2001 IUCN Categories are as follows: Extinct (EX), Extinct in the Wild (EW), Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN), Vulnerable (VU), Near Threatened (NT), Least Concern (LC), Data Deficient (DD), and Not Evaluated (NE).

The Global Mangrove IUCN Workshop is convened by the GMSA Project while the Indo-Pacific Seagrass Red List Assessment Workshop is convened by the GMSA Project and SeagrassNet. Both workshops are supported by the IUCN and Conservation International.

Lopez Group Foundation, Inc. (LGFI) and Manila North Tollways Corporation (MNTC) also provided funds for the workshops and other related activities as part of the Lopez Group's year-long 80th Anniversary celebration. Project Center of Center is funded by First Gen Corporation and First Gas Power Corporation, also of the Lopez Group.