For decades, fishers in Green Island Bay, Roxas, Palawan, have observed recurring dugong feeding trails weaving through shallow seagrass meadows, habitats well known to local communities, yet largely overlooked in formal coastal management. In December 2025, those habitats were formally recognised through the establishment of a Dugong Habitat Local Conservation Area (LCA), a municipally designated protected area developed through the IKI-funded Seagrass Ecosystem Services (SES) project (hereinafter referred to as the “Roxas LCA”).

The Roxas LCA represents a successful milestone within a broader seven-year global initiative. Funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Government in 2019 and implemented under the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) through its Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation and Management of Dugongs (Dugong dugon) and their Habitats throughout their Range (Dugong MOU), in partnership with national agencies, the SES project aimed to improve the conservation of seagrass meadows and the biodiversity they support across India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Timor-Leste. The core objective of this multinational effort was to integrate Seagrass Ecosystem Services into policy frameworks and business models within these target countries. To achieve this, the project combined scientific elements – including seagrass mapping, dugong surveys, and ecosystem service assessments, with sustained community engagement.

To operationalize this multinational framework within the Philippines, the SES project targeted critical coastal sites with high ecological significance and well-documented species activity. Roxas, with its long-observed dugong feeding trails, became a primary focus for translating these global objectives into local action. Implemented by Community Centred Conservation (C3) Philippines in partnership with the Municipality of Roxas, the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and coastal communities, the project combined ecological assessment with participatory planning to generate the scientific and institutional basis for conservation action. Seagrass mapping, habitat assessments, and community consultations transformed long-standing local ecological observations into a formal governance framework centred on the protection of dugong habitat and the ecological functions supporting coastal fisheries and resilience.

The Roxas case illustrates a broader challenge in marine conservation: ecological change is often recognised by local communities long before it is reflected in formal governance systems. By bringing together local ecological knowledge, scientific evidence, and participatory planning, the SES project transformed long-standing observations into a policy response with lasting conservation value.  The establishment of the Roxas LCA demonstrates how Seagrass Ecosystem Services can be effectively integrated into municipal decision-making, translating science and community knowledge into concrete conservation outcomes. More broadly, the case highlights the importance of seagrass ecosystems within marine conservation policy.

Repositioning Seagrass Ecosystems in Marine Conservation

Despite their relatively limited global extent, seagrass ecosystems perform disproportionately important ecological functions, including carbon sequestration, sediment stabilisation, nutrient cycling, fisheries support, and habitat provision for threatened marine megafauna such as the dugong (Dugong dugon)^1–5. Yet despite their functional importance, seagrasses remain chronically underrepresented in marine conservation planning compared with coral reefs and mangroves²,⁸.

This imbalance has important implications for conservation effectiveness. Dugongs, for example, are obligate seagrass feeders whose persistence is tightly coupled to the availability and condition of productive seagrass meadows⁵. Consequently, declines in seagrass extent have cascading effects not only on biodiversity, but also on fisheries productivity, coastal resilience, and blue carbon storage³,⁴.

The Roxas case is notable because it places seagrass ecosystems, rather than species alone, at the centre of management design. In doing so, it aligns with a growing body of evidence suggesting that conservation outcomes are strengthened when habitat-forming ecosystems are treated as foundational ecological infrastructure rather than as secondary conservation targets⁸,⁹.

From Local Ecological Knowledge to Spatial Governance

Green Island Bay has long been recognised by local fishing communities as important dugong habitat. However, as in many tropical coastal systems, these observations had not previously been incorporated into formal spatial management frameworks due to limited ecological baseline data. The SES project addressed this knowledge gap through a series of integrated scientific assessments that generated the first systematic evidence base for seagrass extent, ecological condition, and dugong habitat significance within the bay. The work combined seagrass mapping, ecosystem service evaluations, and habitat suitability analyses to support conservation prioritisation and spatial planning. Together, these assessments provided the technical foundation for the subsequent designation of the LCA. The full technical reports detailing these assessments are available below:

• Seagrass meadows support biodiversity and people in Busuanga and Roxas, Palawan Philippines
• Technical Report on Rapid Seagrass Assessment for the Proposed Local Conservation Area (LCA) in Green Island Bay, Roxas, Palawan

These assessments were undertaken alongside sustained participatory engagement involving fishers, women’s groups, barangay leaders, municipal authorities, and national agencies, strengthening transparency, enhancing local legitimacy, and supporting the integration of local ecological knowledge into formal decision-making processes.Figure 1. Field-based seagrass assessment undertaken in Green Island Bay as part of the SES project’s ecological monitoring and habitat mapping activities. Photo: C3 Philippines.

Ecological Significance of Green Island Bay

A rapid seagrass assessment undertaken in 2025 established a baseline understanding of habitat condition across Green Island Bay¹². Eight seagrass species were documented, including Enhalus acoroides, Thalassia hemprichii, and Cymodocea rotundata, indicating a structurally diverse and ecologically functional meadow system. The occurrence of smaller, fast-growing species such as Halophila ovalis is particularly significant given their role as preferred dugong forage⁵.Figure 2. Drone imagery of seagrass meadows within Green Island Bay, Roxas, Palawan, illustrating the shallow coastal habitats supporting dugong foraging and local fisheries. Photo: C3 Philippines.

The assessment identified strong spatial heterogeneity in seagrass condition. Offshore islands, including Purao and Johnson Islands, supported relatively high mean seagrass cover (~38-39%), whereas Green Island retained moderate but ecologically significant coverage (~25%)¹². In contrast, mainland sites such as Minara and San Nicolas exhibited severe degradation, with near-complete meadow loss and only remnant rhizome structures remaining. These patterns are consistent with broader global trends linking seagrass decline to sedimentation, nutrient loading, anchoring damage, and cumulative physical disturbance¹,⁸.

The Roxas assessment further identified boat traffic, destructive anchoring practices, and sediment inputs from adjacent river systems as major local stressors¹². Typhoon-related disturbance emerged as an additional driver of habitat degradation, reflecting growing evidence that climate-driven extreme events are increasingly restructuring shallow coastal ecosystems⁹. However, the persistence of relatively intact offshore meadows, combined with documented dugong feeding activity, suggests that ecological functionality remains partially intact. This aligns with ecological threshold theory, which proposes that habitat-forming ecosystems may recover if stressors are reduced before critical tipping points are exceeded⁹. In this sense, the establishment of the LCA may represent a proactive intervention within a narrowing window of ecological reversibility.

Legal Designation and Institutional Architecture

The enactment of the LCA was strongly informed by a structured science-to-policy translation process facilitated by the SES project. Following the completion of the rapid ecological assessments in mid-2025, C3 Philippines synthesized the marine data to develop evidence-based spatial zoning recommendations. These findings were shared with the Roxas Local Government Unit (LGU), the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD), and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) through a series of multi-stakeholder consultations. By providing field data and ecosystem service evaluations during municipal planning sessions, C3 contributed to the evidence base policymakers drew upon to shape the spatial boundaries and regulatory frameworks of the protected area.

This process culminated in the formal recognition of Green Island Bay’s ecological value through Municipal Ordinance No. 1057 on 1 December 2025. The legislation established the LCA as a locally managed area designed to protect seagrass habitats and associated marine biodiversity¹³. The ordinance further instituted a Dugong Habitat Management Committee and Technical Working Group to oversee implementation, long-term monitoring, enforcement, and stakeholder coordination.Figure 3. Spatial boundaries of the Dugong Habitat Local Conservation Area (LCA) in Green Island Bay, Roxas, Palawan, as defined within the municipal ordinance. Photo: C3 Philippines.

The ordinance strictly prohibits destructive activities within the LCA, including fishing practices, habitat destruction, and disturbance to dugongs, establishing a legally binding mechanism for regulating key anthropogenic pressures.

From a governance perspective, the Roxas model reflects a collaborative approach involving local governments, national environmental agencies, technical organizations, and community stakeholders. Importantly, community support for the LCA was driven not only by biodiversity goals, but by locally observed declines in fisheries productivity, shifting habitat quality, and the socio-cultural importance of marine species. This underscores a foundational principle in environmental governance: spatial protection is most durable when institutional frameworks are directly linked to locally experienced environmental change and the preservation of community livelihoods.

Managing Seagrass Ecosystems as Socio-Ecological Infrastructure

Management design within the LCA is directly informed by ecological assessment data, with spatial zoning prioritising areas supporting dense seagrass cover and critical dugong habitat. This approach aligns with international best practice habitat-focused marine spatial planning¹⁰. Key management interventions include:

• Spatial protection of ecologically significant seagrass meadows
• Regulation of anchoring and destructive fishing practices
• Long-term ecological monitoring using standardised protocols
• Integration of seagrass conservation into broader municipal coastal planning frameworks
• Participatory monitoring and local enforcement mechanisms

The governance model incorporates elements consistent with IUCN Category VI protected areas, reflecting an emphasis on sustainable use alongside conservation objectives, while also applying stricter habitat protection measures in ecologically sensitive zones.

Persistent Constraints and Emerging Risks

Despite important progress, the Roxas LCA remains vulnerable to several interacting pressures. The ecological assessment identified elevated algal and epiphyte loads at some sites, indicating declining water quality and potential nutrient enrichment¹². Such conditions can reduce light penetration, constrain photosynthesis, and reduce seagrass productivity⁸. Climate-related disturbance presents an additional challenge. Observed meadow losses following typhoon events illustrate the exposure of shallow tropical seagrass systems to increasingly intense climatic extremes⁹. While local protection measures may reduce direct anthropogenic pressures, they cannot fully buffer ecosystems against large-scale climatic forcing. This highlights a critical limitation increasingly acknowledged in marine conservation literature: MPAs alone are insufficient where broader watershed degradation, climate impacts, and external stressors remain unmanaged⁸,⁹.

The long-term effectiveness of the Roxas LCA will therefore depend not only on local compliance and enforcement, but also on integrated land-sea governance that addresses sedimentation, declining water quality, and climate vulnerability at larger spatial scales.

Implications for Marine Conservation Policy

The Roxas LCA illustrates how marine conservation can emerge through the gradual alignment of ecological evidence, local knowledge, and municipal governance. Its significance lies not only in the designation of a protected area, but in the translation of ecological change into formal coastal policy.

Several broader governance and ecological lessons emerge from the Roxas case:

1. Seagrass ecosystems require explicit policy recognition rather than treatment as secondary components of coastal management.

2. Scientific evidence alone is insufficient without governance structures capable of translating ecological knowledge into enforceable policy.

3. Community legitimacy is foundational to long-term conservation effectiveness, particularly in small-scale fisheries systems.

4. Marine protected areas must be embedded within broader socio-ecological management frameworks if they are to remain effective under accelerating climate and land-use pressures.

In this context, the Roxas example illustrates how conservation can emerge through the integration of ecological science, local governance, and community stewardship. It also reinforces the importance of recognising seagrass ecosystems not as peripheral coastal habitats, but as foundational components of resilient coastal socio-ecological systems.

Ultimately, the establishment of the Roxas LCA serves as a tangible example of how these broader governance and ecological principles can be translated into practice. Over its seven-year implementation across six target countries, the SES project set out to integrate seagrass conservation into formal policy frameworks and business models. This site-level success in the Philippines stands as a direct example of that operational model in action. It demonstrates that when rigorous scientific assessment is paired with sustained local engagement, communities and stakeholders can effectively influence municipal governance, translating technical knowledge into durable marine conservation policy while delivering both ecological and socio-economic co-benefits.

References

1. Waycott, M. et al. (2009) ‘Accelerating loss of seagrasses across the globe threatens coastal ecosystems’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106, pp. 12377–12381.
2. Orth, R.J. et al. (2006) ‘A global crisis for seagrass ecosystems’, BioScience, 56, pp. 987–996.
3. Duarte, C.M. et al. (2013) ‘The role of coastal plant communities for climate change mitigation and adaptation’, Nature Climate Change, 3, pp. 961–968.
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5. Marsh, H., O’Shea, T.J. & Reynolds, J.E. (2011) Ecology and Conservation of the Sirenia: Dugongs and Manatees. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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8. Unsworth, R.K.F. et al. (2015) ‘Global challenges for seagrass conservation’, Ambio, 44, pp. 216–222.
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11. Oldekop, J.A., Holmes, G., Harris, W.E. & Evans, K.L. (2016) ‘A global assessment of the social and conservation outcomes of protected areas’, Conservation Biology, 30, pp. 133–141.
12. C3 Philippines (2025) Technical report on rapid seagrass assessment for the proposed Local Conservation Area in Green Island Bay, Roxas, Palawan.
13. Municipality of Roxas (2025) Municipal Ordinance No. 1057, Series of 2025: Establishment of the Dugong Habitat Local Conservation Area in Green Island Bay.