1. INIBAN MARINE SANCTUARY Ayungon, Negros Oriental

2. The Municipality of Ayungon is 82 kilometers north of the provincial capiltal-Dumaguete City. It is a second class municipality with a population of 44 thousand. It has 24 barangays with an area of 28, 168 hectares. The dialect spoken is cebuano. My focal MPA is the INIBAN MS. Awarded as the 2009’s best MPA. So, you might ask, of the 7 MPAs that the Municipality has, why the Iniban MPA. Our mayor chosee the Iniban MPA because Alcala, in one of his researches, suggested that the said sunctaury had the highest biomass in all of the MPAs. That is why the mayor wanted to preserve number of biomass this MPA has. Also, this place is home to the butanding, the giant clams and the pawikan.

3. THREATS *SILTATION *INTRUSION *USE OF CYANIDE *OVERFISHING
But the threats are always there. The main threat that we have is siltation. This might be caused by the mining activities that is also happening in the upland areas. Second is the intrusion inside the MPA. Since the bantay dagat membership is voluntary, they are afraid to do their job. As one fisherman reasoned out, when you implement the rules, you loose your friends. The use of cyanide is also a problem because even the juvinile fish are caught. Lastly, overfishing. Because Iniban is just beside the most populous brgy, whose inhabitants also depends on the sea, overfishing is really a problem.

4. “Kulang sa pagpasabot”
This is my subject, Billy Alberto, a member of the people’sorganization and a bantay dagat member himself, he suggested that the MPAs fail because the people did not understand the benefits that the MPA brings. That is why people in their area, intentionaly marker buoys to increase their fishing grounds.
“Kulang sa pagpasabot”

5. SOLUTIONS *IEC *PATROLLING *LIVELIHOOD PROJECTS
So, from that, our solution includes the IEC. To inform them not only the do’s and don’ts of the sanctuary but also, the benefits it brings to the table. Another is patrolling. Human as we are, we don’t do bad things when we see that someone is watching. That is why patrolling plays a vital role in the success of the MPA. The third solution that I could think of is the creation of livelihood projects. When we were in Bohol, I had the chance to talk with the mayor of Marihatag as he explained the livelihood projects that they have. One thing that is stuck in my mind up to now is when he said and I quote, no matter have good your project is, when the people don’t have something to put in their mouths, the project is destined to fail. End of quote. That is why I included the livelihood projects as a solution.

6. Lastly, the main