Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)
Safeguarding marine biodiversity through community-managed Marine Protected Areas
GDFI's Marine Reserve & Learning Center: Bagonbanua
The Bagonbanua Marine Reserve and Sanctuary is a community-managed marine protected area on Bagonbanua Island in Guiuan, Eastern Samar. GDFI helped bring it to life: following a 1989 coastal resource assessment carried out with the Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development (PCAMRD), the reserve's boundaries were delineated in 1991 and formally protected under a municipal ordinance in 1992.
Covering 28.30 hectares, the reserve is safeguarded by the local community to conserve marine life and keep the surrounding waters productive for generations to come. Hover, scroll, or tap the map to zoom from Samar down to the sanctuary's boundary.
Bagonbanua is not the only protected area GDFI works with. It sits within the wider Guiuan Marine Resource Protected Landscape and Seascape (GMRPLS) — a nationally protected land- and seascape spanning the Guiuan peninsula and its surrounding waters.
View the GMRPLS on the DENR–BMB protected areas registry