Conducted by PIT
, Started on 2018 -
Completed on 2020
Completed
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In Anthropocene era, coral species are among the most threatened marine fauna. Specific scleractinians coral species had been added for the first time in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2007. Cuatro Islas in Leyte had been monitored since 1994 while San Francisco Island in Camotes Islands, Cebu was surveyed in February 2019. Both group of islands are under the National Integrated Protected Areas Systems (NIPAS). Additionally, the coral reef areas in Palompon, Leyte were surveyed recently. The data of corals listed in International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Evolutionary Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) hard corals were extracted from data through time using different survey methodologies with the latest reassessment adopting the NACRE-SHINE modified photo-transect method from May 2018 to September 2020. The surveys were conducted in randomly identified coral reef areas per sampling site. Photos from both transect and purposive samplings for colony shots were examined. Anacropra reticulata, Fimbriaphyllia ancora, Heliofungia actinoformis, Lobophyllia serratus, Moseleya latistellata, Pachyseris rugosa, Pavona cactus, Physogyra lichtensteini, Turbinaria heronensis, T. mesenterina, T. peltata and T. stellulata were documented. The presence of these IUCN Red List and EDGE coral species is a factor for consideration in the maximum and sustained protection of these critical coral reefs in concomitant with the implementation of E-NIPAS law and the expanded Philippine Fisheries Code.