The community of Tingloy sits on an island in the Verde Island Passage, the “center of the center” of the world’s marine shorefish diversity. The passage, between Luzon and Mindoro Islands, is a coveted destination for divers and snorkelers, who flock there to see abundant sharks and other fish, dolphins, marine turtles, and an enormous variety of colorful nudibranchs and corals. It also supports traditional fishers. Preserving this extraordinary habitat is a conservation imperative.

Maricaban Island, just a few hours from the Manila area, is popular with tourists, who come for Tingloy’s beautiful beaches and wondrous coral reefs. In the last decade, they have arrived in droves. With the crowds came piles of garbage—a huge challenge for any small island. But the community has stepped up. In 2019, Seacology funded construction of a visitors center, where arriving tourists get a briefing on the things they can and cannot do while on the island. Visitors then put down a small deposit and get a cloth bag, in which they can put their trash until they throw it away. (Bins are strategically placed around the tourist area.) When they leave, they return the bag and get their deposit back. Tingloy now has three materials recovery facilities.

As part of the earlier Seacology project, the community created the 50-acre Parasan Marine Protected Area. It has been well protected and was thriving, though just a few months ago a typhoon swept through and damaged the coral extensively.

Barangay San Juan, part of the Tingloy municipality, now proposes to protect an additional 25 acres of reef, known as Batalang Bato or Devil’s Point, near the Parasan MPA. To further reduce pollution, the community will install two water tanks at a dressing room and toilet facility near Masasa Beach, which faces the Parasan protected area. The elevated tanks will improve the water pressure so the toilets work properly.