Monitoring the Shoreline Dynamics of Manamoc Island, Cuyo, Palawan

Anthropogenic activities have an impact on the coastal environment, even on small islands with little economic activity. This is evident in Manamoc Island, Cuyo, Palawan. Knowledge and understanding of these impacts will enable policymakers to formulate policies arresting the problem. This study focused on establishing shoreline trends using sand boundary as a proxy and determining specific physical or natural processes and anthropogenic activities affecting coastal conditions on Manamoc Island. Key informant interview (KII), beach profiling, longshore drift direction and velocity determination, and time series analysis of shoreline were carried out. Manamoc Island coastline retreated at an average of 38–64.5m from 1989 to 2016. These were attributed to the compounding effect of natural processes, hydrometeorological events, and anthropogenic activities. The anthropogenic activities led to the destruction of natural barriers e.g. sand, rocks, coral reefs, seagrass, mangroves, and other coastal vegetation resulting in coastal erosion. With impending threats of climate change and sea-level rise, locals should consider long-term relocation. Furthermore, intensive IEC campaigns on coastal resource protection and reframing the coastal resource management plans are imperative.