Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

Transcription

1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION M aaag Bay is a 65 km 2 semi-ova embayment ocated on the southwestern coast of Davao Guf with 58 km of coastine from Barangay Bautakay, Hagonoy to Coapsin Point in Sta. Maria (Figure 1.1). It is ocated within the grid coordinates between 6º to 6º north atitude and 125º to 125º east ongitude within the province of Davao de Sur which ies at the southeastern portion of Mindanao. Maaag Bay is under the jurisdiction of five municipaities: Hagonoy, Maaag, Padada, Sta. Maria, and Suop, coectivey caed as the Maaag Bay Area (MBA). The MBA is bounded on the north by Digos and Matanao, on the east by Davao Guf, on the south by Maita and Maungon, Sarangani Province, and on the west by Sutan Kudarat and North Cotabato. Maaag Bay was once caed Kasiaran Bay, named after a pam found abundant in the area. In the 1970s, when the municipaity of Maaag was gaining popuarity as a deveoping town within the bay area, Kasiaran Bay was then renamed. The bay was caed Maaag Bay due to its proximity to Maaag and its wharf ocated in the innermost portion of the bay. Maaag Bay was once caed Kasiaran Bay, named after a pam found abundant in the area. Most of the inhabitants of the MBA are of Visayan origin. They came from the isands of Boho, Leyte, Negros, Panay, and Samar with the majority coming from Cebu. A few Musims aso inhabit the area primariy from the provinces of Basian, Suu, Tawi- Tawi, and other Musim-dominated provinces of mainand Mindanao. Two aborigina tribes, Kaagans and the Tagacaoos, inhabit the MBA. The Kaagans

2 2 Davao de Sur Figure 1.1. Maaag Bay with outying municipaities. reside in Barangay Apaya of Hagonoy whie the Tagacaoos are natives of Sta. Maria. However, few are ocated in the coasta area with the majority ocated in the upand communities of the municipaities of Maita, Don Marceino, and Jose Abad Santos. The bountifu coasta resources of Kasiaran Bay persuaded the Musims, Cebuanos, and other Visayans to sette aong the area between 1920 and Od setters fet the coasta and marine resources of the bay coud support any human utiization and expoitation. In the 1950s, dynamite fishing caused much destruction to the cora reefs, but peope

3 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 3 did not notice its effects on the ecosystems nor on their iveihood. They, however, pursued different fishing methods to maintain or even increase their voume of catch unaware of the depetion of the fish stocks. Devastation of the forest cover was aso brought about by ogging activities from the 1940s unti the 1960s when timber was haued to Maaag Bay and transported by ships outside the municipaity. Succeeding destruction was hastened by the continuing infux of migrants to the ogged areas, triggered primariy by a ack of economic opportunities in the owands. Sash-and-burn farming sti persists and has caused much destruction, not ony to the forest cover but aso to the biodiversity of the pace. Denudation continues to pose a grave threat to the community with the ands exposed and vunerabe to soi erosion and degradation. MBA now experiences ong dry spes that resut in the drying of water sources in genera. Davao Guf and the MBA in particuar share the foowing environmenta probems and concerns as the rest of Mindanao: Forest denudation continues to pose a grave threat to the community with the ands exposed and vunerabe to soi erosion and degradation. Forest destruction - Forest denudation has acceerated the oss of top soi, increased the severity and frequency of foods, increased sitation to downstream farms, settements, and various coasta habitats, and decreased the suppy of water for domestic and agricutura use. The rapid increase in the popuation of farmers aggravates issues of and tenure, sustainabiity of traditiona soping agricutura practices, and access to basic services. Water poution - Poution of the rivers and seas is mainy being caused by unreguated disposa of industria, agricutura, and househod wastes as we as oi spis. Poution caused by fertiizers, chemicas, and pesticides from banana pantations and other agricutura deveopment; effuents from sugar miing pants and other industria estabishments; oi spis dumped by docking vesses and motorized fishing boats that produce oi wastes during ceaning and changing oi; waste discharges such as uneaten fish feeds, feca and excretory wastes from maricuture activities; and the soid waste poution brought about by the negigence of househods in the proper disposa of trash and the ceophane from the banana pantations resuted in the gradua depetion of the marine ecosystem. The narrow shef makes the mangrove, seagrass, and cora reef communities vunerabe to these and- and sea-based sources of poution. Persistent iega and destructive fishing activities - The use of dynamite, poisonous pant extracts, and obnoxious commercia substances during fishing; the iega entry of commercia fishing boats within the bay; the use of fine mesh nets incuding baing and ampornas resuted in the depetion of fishery resources.

4 4 It is further compounded by the increasing popuation of fishermen aong the coastine and the open-access nature of the fishery especiay for the sma peagic fishery. Beset with various environmenta probems, the MBA was seected as one of the six earning areas of the Coasta Resource Management Project (CRMP). The MBA serves as one of the modes for CRMP which spearheads coasta resource management (CRM) through community eadership and initiatives. This coasta environmenta profie provides baseine information on the coasta habitats, resources, and socioeconomic condition of the MBA to the oca government units (LGUs), nongovernment organizations (NGOs), peope s organizations (POs), and the coasta communities and wi serve as a guide in the deveopment and formuation of CRM pans in the MBA. The specific objectives of this profie are to: Determine the status of the shaow nearshore habitats, resources, and socioeconomic condition of the inhabitants for monitoring purposes; Identify issues and constraints besetting the MBA to be used in assessing the progress of the CRM; Synthesize mapped information which wi constitute a visua database for spatia anaysis; Summarize and assess information and ecosystem and resources, socia and economic conditions, and ega and institutiona regimes for management; and Provide a source of information for communities, government, panners, researchers, and others in the panning and education process. This coasta environmenta profie covers the MBA from the boundary of Hagonoy to the boundary of Sta. Maria. It is a compiation of existing baseine information avaiabe from the five municipaities, Provincia Panning Deveopment Office (PPDO) of Davao de Sur, Mindanao State University (MSU), Siiman University (SU), Department of Agricuture (DA), Department of Environment and Natura Resources (DENR), and from actua biophysica and socioeconomic surveys of the coasta zone. Information for this profie was coected from primary sources incuding a participatory coasta resource assessment (PCRA), short-term site surveys, interviews with oca resource users, LGUs, and community discussions. Secondary sources such as reports, maps, government fies, and photographs were aso utiized.

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