UPV spearheads nat'l confab on Solar Oil Spill
Updates on on the impact of the Solar 1 oil spill in Guimaras will be discussed in a two-day national conference dubbed "Two Years After the Solar 1 Oil Spill: Where Are We?".
The activity is spearheaded by the University of the Philippines Visayas through the Oil Spill Response Program and will held on Novemebr 27-28, 2008 at the Auditorium of the Univeversity of the Philippines Visayas Iloilo City Campus.
The conduct of the activity is also in cooperation with the Core University Program, UPV and Kagoshima University Faculty of Fisheries, the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science-Department of Science and Technology, and the Province of Guimaras.
It will be recalled that MT Solar I carrying tons of oil sank off Guimaras Strait in August 2006. The tanker, which was carrying 2,000 tons of fuel oil, sunk to a depth of 640 meters. Massive clean up operations and several forms of assistance were extended both by the government, private, domestic and international institutions to mitigate the effects of oils pill to human and marine life.
On November 27 to 28 conference, researchers will present results of Year 1 monitoring and other oil-spill related studies within the Taklong Island National Maritime Reserve (TINMAR). Other agencies like the DENR, DSWD and BFAR will also present their monitoring and rehabilitation programs with in and outside TINMAR.
The monitoring and research updates to be presented are: Environmental Sensitivity Index Mapping of the Province of Guimaras; Monitoring of Impacts, Response and Recovery of Mangrove and Seedlings within TINMAR; Monitoring the First Year Effects of the Solar 1 Oil Spill on the Benthic Infaunal Assemblages in Southern Guimaras; Monitoring of Reef Faunal Assenblages and Seagrass-Associated Echinoderm Populations in the Taklong Island National Marine Reserve; Seagrass Meadows in Southern Guimaras: Immediate Post-Oil Spill Status; Growth Profiles of Seagrassess and Mangroves Along Oil Impact Gradient; Post-Spill Plankton and Larval Flux monitoring Studies in TINMAR; Monitoring the Catch per Unit Effort of Bottom Set Longline Operating in Southern Guimaras; Surveys of Catch in Selected Areas in Guimaras; Beach Fauna as Indicators of Environment Change in Guimaras; Socio-Economic Monitoring of Fishing Communities in Southern Guimaras: Monitoring Recovery and Resiliency; Livelihood Initiatives in Response to Disasters: The Case of MT Solar 1 Oil Spill in Guimaras; Gender Perspectives in Disaster Response and Interventions to Solar 1 Oil Spill (SOS) in Guimaras; and Communicating Disaster Management: Documentation, Assessment of Good Practices and Reform Initiatives by Stakeholders in SOS in Guimaras;
November 28: Temporal Variations in Petroleum Hydrocarbons of Oil Spill Affected Sediments in Guimaras; Toxicity of Heavy Fuel Oil-Dispersant Mixture to Marine Organisms; Health Status of Residents of Barangays San Roque and Lapaz, Nueva Valencia, Guimaras; Other agencies like the DENR, DSWD and BFAR will also present their monitoring and rehabilitation programs with in and outside TINMAR. (PIA 6/T.Villavert)