For more than 17 years, CCEF has been working closely with the municipality of Siquijor, leading CRM initiatives as well as in biodiversity assessments, capability building, and developing science-based protocols in coral reef rehabilitation and reef fish recovery. Through Project SUSTAIN, Project ISDA, and Project SEAled, CCEF helped establish the Siquijor Coastal Resource Management Alliance (SPCRMA) to help combat IUU fishing operations, scale-up MPA management governance in all 22 MPAs as well as establish a sustainable, community-based livelihood for coastal communities in Siquijor.
In partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), CCEF will be starting a 6-year KFW funded project in Siquijor Province titled “Marine Biodiversity and Support of Coastal Fisheries in the Coral Triangle”. Part of the project is to cover at least 173,078.03 hectares of municipal waters in FMA 9 (Bohol Sea) with which the coasts of Siquijor was identified as one of the key biodiversity areas and one of the most important fisheries ecosystems in Bohol sea. The project piloted in Siquijor will be called Scaling Up Ecosystem Approaches for a Sustainable (SEAS) the Future. This project aims to improve fisheries in FMA 9 through strengthening of local coastal law enforcement, improving governance, establishing coastal livelihood and scaling-up ridge-to-reef programs .
