Good coral cover and high diversity of corals in non-MPA reefs of the Verde Island Passage as a basis for increased protection and conservation

The Verde Island Passage (VIP) is a region in the Philippines with very high marine biodiversity. Baseline coral assessments were conducted in selected sites in the four provinces of the VIP (Batangas, Marinduque, Occidental Mindoro, and Oriental Mindoro) to compare coral abundance and biodiversity in Marine Protected Area (MPA) and non-MPA sites that were subjected to anthropogenic stressors. A total of eight sites were surveyed to measure average hard coral cover (HCC) relative to other benthic components. Generic richness and the dominant coral genera were also obtained for the eight sites. The average HCC and generic richness of Batangas MPA and Batangas non-MPA were (39.82 ± 7.59%, 22 coral TAUs) and (38.80 ± 5.56%, 27 coral TAUs), respectively. The average HCC and generic richness of Marinduque MPA and Marinduque non-MPA were (25.58 ± 2.37%, 13 coral TAUs) and (35.73 ± 4.05%, 17 coral TAUs), respectively. The average HCC and generic richness of Occidental Mindoro MPA and Occidental Mindoro non-MPA were (49.49 ± 4.50%, 26 coral TAUs) and (32.32 ± 5.60%, 19 coral TAUs), respectively. The average HCC and generic richness of Oriental Mindoro MPA and Oriental Mindoro non-MPA were (25.02 ± 4.72%, 24 coral TAUs) and (5.93 ± 2.10%, 10 coral TAUs), respectively. Batangas non-MPA and Marinduque non-MPA showed potential to become MPAs due to their higher HCC and generic richness which were attributed to natural disturbances and duration of local reef management in their MPA counterparts. Continued monitoring and assessment should be done to build on the growing database of biodiversity data that is being compiled for the VIP.