The government has begun a five‑year effort to secure long-term protection for the Philippine Rise, a move seen as crucial amid mounting threats to the country’s marine resources, food security and maritime domain.
The initiative aims to put in place lasting safeguards for one of the nation’s most important but least understood offshore ecosystems, Environment Secretary Raphael Lotilla said.
The initiative aims to put in place lasting safeguards for one of the nation’s most important but least understood offshore ecosystems.
“We have the responsibility to take care of the biodiversity in that area,” Lotilla said, emphasizing that the Philippine Rise’s ecosystem benefits extend not only to the Philippines but to the global community.
“Understanding what lies within the vast undersea plateau is essential to ensuring its sustainable use and long-term protection.”
The environment head added that understanding what lies within the vast undersea plateau is essential to ensuring its sustainable use and long-term protection.
The Philippine Rise Conservation Project forms the backbone of these efforts, strengthening management of the Philippine Rise Marine Resource Reserve (PRMRR) and advancing its bid for inclusion under the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System.
For Filipinos, the push is critical: the Rise is a spawning ground for key fish stocks that supply local markets, a natural buffer against climate impacts and a strategic frontier where illegal fishing and foreign intrusions have long threatened livelihoods, biodiversity and national security.
PRICELESS, or the Philippine Rise Integrated Conservation for Enduring Legacies through Ecosystem Support Services, is being implemented by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), through the Biodiversity Management Bureau, in partnership with Conservation International and Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia.
The initiative is funded by the Global Environment Facility under its seventh cycle. A 434,517-hectare portion of the Philippine Rise was declared the PRMRR in 2018 under Presidential Proclamation No. 489, establishing a 49,684-hectare Strict Protection Zone and a 352,390-hectare Multiple Use Zone jointly co-managed by the DENR and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
At its core, PRICELESS seeks to strengthen governance, inter-agency coordination and enforcement across the reserve while improving on-site management and promoting sustainable resource use for nearby coastal communities.
It aims to curb illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, resolve overlapping institutional mandates, and enhance scientific monitoring by improving data generation and information-sharing among agencies.
With many families along the eastern seaboard dependent on fishing, the project underscores that biodiversity conservation must go hand in hand with sustaining livelihoods—an approach increasingly recognized as essential to ensuring both food security and the long-term health of marine ecosystems.
