Volunteer Divers in Marine Protected Areas (Philippines), March/April 2012
Project Seahorse and its NGO partner in the
Philippines are seeking volunteer, certified
SCUBA divers (minimum 15 logged dives) who are
interested in participating in a long-term
monitoring program for marine protected areas
(MPAs) in northern Bohol, Philippines.
The surveys are conducted biannually, one in the
dry season (March/April) and one in the wet
season (Sept/Oct). An eight-week commitment is
required comprising approximately two weeks of
training and six weeks of survey work. Surveys
are easily influenced by weather and other
unpredictable events, so the duration of the
fieldwork may vary. If completed quickly,
volunteers will be asked to assist with other
conservation work, such as data encoding or
assisting with other biological field programs.
Please visit
<http://seahorse.fisheries.ubc.ca/node/315>http://seahorse.fisheries.ubc.ca/node/315
to download the application form.
The application deadline for the March/April 2012
survey is Jan 13, 2012. Please email your
application to Tarah Brachman at [email protected]
Diving Survey Work
In the dry season, sites are surveyed for fish
communities and seahorses. In the wet season,
benthic communities, coral complexity and
seahorses are censused. Diving will involve
shallow dives, generally 3-10 m, rarely to a
maximum of 14 m, both during the day (benthic,
coral and fish surveys) and during the night
(seahorse surveys). Photography is used in the
benthic surveys; although beneficial, no prior
experience with underwater photography is
required. We will select 3-4 international volunteers for each survey.
Requirements for volunteering
The Project Seahorse Foundation requires a
donation of $2700 USD to help cover survey costs,
local travel, accommodation, and food. Volunteers
must also provide their own SCUBA gear and are
responsible for the cost of their return airfare
to the Philippines, visa costs, travel/health
insurance and appropriate vaccinations, together
with providing proof of a current dive medical and dive insurance.
A working knowledge of coral reef fish families
and benthic fauna (esp. corals) and flora would be an advantage.
Volunteers will be supervised by the Project
Seahorse Foundation Survey Biologist and based in
Handumon (Jandayan Island). On arrival in Cebu
City, the Project Seahorse Foundation National
Coordinator will organize a comprehensive
orientation on its programs and projects, MPA
survey schedule, safety protocols, and community and team living.
Application timeline
Interviews will be conducted in January 2012 by phone.
Payment of donation: 50% of the required donation
should be paid after selected applicants have
been notified, and the remaining 50% at start of the programme.
Recommended texts
Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide by Allen, G. and Steene, R. (1999).
Marine Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and South
East Asia by Allen, G. (1997).
Diving/Scuba equipment (*essential)
Mask & snorkel
Fins for booties (not socks)
Booties (for walking among mangroves and over coral rubble)
Full wetsuit (3 mm, protects against stinging jellyfish and sun)
Weight belt (Project Seahorse will provide weights)
Knife
SCUBA gear
Buoyancy compensation device (BCD)
Regulator with content gauge and depth gauge
Background information Long-term monitoring of Marine Protected Areas
In 1998, Project Seahorse initiated the long term
monitoring programme for assessing MPA
effectiveness in northern Bohol. The motivation
behind the programme is three-fold:
(1) to provide up-to-date monitoring data to
inform fishing communities about the status of
their reefs, (2) to catalyze community interest
in managing and establishing additional MPAs, and
(3) to provide scientifically robust data for
assessing the impact on MPAs on the recovery of coral reefs.
Trial surveys were conducted in the late 1990s,
and the full design of the programme was
established in 2001. Over the past decade, nearly
50 international volunteers have participated in
the programme, and it is with their hard work and
commitment that we continue to meet our objective
of quantifying the response of seahorses, fishes
and benthic organisms (e.g. live coral) to protection.
Currently a total of seven MPAs are being
monitored, each with a control site situated just
outside the MPA. In addition, four more distant
control sites have also been selected (see
table). The MPAs are located in four municipalities in Bohol.
