A new conservation agreement (CA) was signed on September 17, 2018 by Malampaya Foundation Inc. (MFI) for remote Linapacan community barangay Decabaitot, while two were renewed for the municipality of Coron on September 19, 2018 for barangays Bulalacao and Lajala.
The new Decabaitot agreement is MFI’s 32nd CA in the country and 15th in Palawan. The original CA’s for Lajala and Bulalacao were signed in 2015. Both sites have garnered awards as among the best-managed marine protected areas (MPA) at USAID’s RACE (Recognition Awards for Calamianes’ Ecosystem) awards in 2017. Bulalacao’s 3,400+ hectare MPA was established in 2014, while Lajala’s was expanded in 2015 to nearly 740 hectares with assistance from MFI.
In process is the re-establishment, re-design and expansion of Decabaitot’s MPA fronting the island community’s proper.
