Gov’t urged to craft Benham Rise protection framework

The Philippine government was urged yesterday to create a protection framework for Benham Rise, an undersea territory east of Luzon brimming with natural resources, to prevent foreign vessels from trespassing.

Oceana, the world's largest international non-governmental organization working on ocean conservation, came out with a statement yesterday, urging the Philippine government to protect Benham Rise.

“Benham Rise is part of Philippine territory. We must exercise our sovereignty over this area and assert our rights. The immediate creation of a management framework to ensure the protection of this special place and the conservation of its marine resources is a compelling first step,” said lawyer Gloria Estenzo Ramos, vice president for Oceana Philippines.

This was after Department of National Defense (DND) recently disclosed that a Chinese vessel conducted an unsanctioned survey in the region.

Benham Rise is an undersea territory located east of Luzon. It includes a 13-million hectare extended continental shelf validated in 2012 by the United Nations’ Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (UN CLCS) as the Philippines’ newest territory.

This expanded the original region from 11.4-million hectares to 24.4-million hectares – just under the total land area of the country, which currently stands at 30-million hectares.

"We must work together and exercise our sovereign rights to nurture and protect it – a first step would be to declare Benham Bank as a ‘no-take’ zone, immediately protecting it from any exploitation,” said Ramos.

The Philippine government has conducted numerous expeditions to the region to study its resources.

In May last year, Oceana joined government scientists from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), plus the University of the Philippines, Philippine Coast Guard, and Philippine Navy for an expedition to Benham Bank – the shallowest portion of the Rise.

The expedition team reported an astounding 100 percent coral cover in the surveyed area – extremely rare in the country and perhaps the only one – plus a diverse assemblage of marine resources.

Marine scientists also documented a vast “mesophotic” or deep-sea reef ecosystem at minimum depths of 50 meters, which experts cited as a potential source and refuge for shallow reef fish and other marine organisms which can be affected by climate change.

“With 100 percent coral cover, this area is possibly the only place left in Philippine waters in such a pristine state. Further research should be done to ensure that the area is developed sustainably," Ramos further said.