Rare in the

Philippines © Rare/Wizbren Ang

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 Fish Forever at a Glance
Fish Forever is Rare’s community-led solution to revitalize coastal marine habitats,
including coral reefs and mangrove forests, protect biodiversity, and boost
fishing communities’ livelihoods around the world. The program balances habitat
conservation with human use and puts fishers at the center of the solution.

10 100 1,000,000 500 125,000

countries partners fishers engaged local governments mi2 of coastal
committed seas managed

Coastal Fisheries in the Philippines

Coastal seas are the beating heart of the ocean. The Philippines’ municipal waters
sustain millions of people, providing food and livelihood for urban and rural communities.
However, coastal overfishing and destructive practices are diminishing fish catches and
destroying marine habitats. Climate change is worsening this situation, making future
fishing conditions—and life for coastal communities on the front lines of climate impacts
— uncertain.

5th
largest coastline in

2% 100% the world (36,287

kilometers of coast)
of global mangrove of the Philippines’
forests are found in mangroves are in
the Philippines coastal waters

80% 85%
of Filipinos live in of Filipino fishers are
coastal cities and registered as small-scale
municipalities (1.9 million)
50%
of the Philippines’ fish
is caught by small-scale
fishers

$981M USD
total estimated value of 9% 93%
the Philippines’ small- of global coral of the Philippines’
scale coastal fisheries reefs are found in coral reefs are in
the Philippines coastal waters

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 © Rare/Jocas A. See

The Program
Fish Forever works with fishing villages and local governments to strengthen
community-based coastal fisheries management of the Philippines’ municipal waters.
Because of Fish The program works to:
Forever,
• Establish managed access areas that provide fishing communities clear rights to
members of our fish in certain areas
association
• Create networks of fully-protected and community-led no-take marine reserves to
are now reporting replenish and sustain fish populations and protect critical habitat
increased
• Build community engagement and effective management bodies to support local
fish catch.” decision-making

– Virgilio Avisado • Enable fishers to adopt more sustainable and better-regulated fishing behaviors
Tandayag Marine Sanctuary in the (e.g., become a registered fisher; record fish catch; respect fishing regulations; and
Municipality of Amlan participate in fisheries management)

• Collect, disseminate and help fishing communities use data for decision-making

• Advance coastal fishing communities’ inclusion in financial and market

opportunities to increase household resilience

• Enact policy and unlock financing to promote and sustain this community-based
management approach

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 The Network of Impact
Fish Forever in the Philippines has developed a strong partnership network to turn local
change into national impact.

This partnership among Rare, local communities, governments and a broad range of
partners leads to more abundant marine life, healthier coastal habitats, improved fish
abundance, greater social equity, and more resilience to external impacts—especially
those related to climate change.

Communities
Fishers
Universities

Fish Private
Women Forever sector

© Rare/Wizbren Ang © Rare/Jocas A. See

NGOs Youth
Governments

© Rare/Tom Epperson

Giving exclusive rights to fishers carries with it an obligation to fish in a

responsible manner. This is the only way they can enjoy the privilege of fishing
in our municipality, and ensure that we will have abundant supply of marine
resources for the current and future generations.”
– Mayor Mary Jean Nicopior-Te
Libertad, Antique

Rare inspires change so people and nature thrive

3rd Floor Trends Plaza, F. Ramos St., Brgy. Cogon, Cebu City, Cebu 60001 Philippines | 032.412.2813
Visit us at www.rare.org/philippines rare.org and follow RareOrgPH

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