Partnership for biodiversity conservation: Experiences in reviving the stock of sinarapan, the world s smallest commercial fish

Abstract

This paper presents the successful partnership of the Buhi local government, the San Ramon Barangay Council and its residents, and the Bicol University for successfully reviving the stock of sinarapan (Mistichthys luzonensis Smith), through the Sinarapan Re-population Strategy (SRS), implemented in two mountain lakes in Buhi, Camarines Sur, Philippines. Given the very low population of the small fish in Lakes Buhi and Bato, where the fish was very abundant in the 1940s to the 1960s, developing the SRS is the direct approach to revive the stock of the world s smallest commercial fish . It has faced the problem of declining stock with a logical and immediate solution through a natural experiment . Sinarapan stock revival through the SRS exemplifies adequately practical use of scientific information for biodiversity conservation and comanagement. SRS is the only fish translocation strategy in mountain lake conditions in Asia. Success with the SRS is a vital prerequisite to the goal of reviving the sinarapan in Bicol s major lakes where the fish supported major fisheries and gave fame to the region. Experiences in implementing the SRS confirmed that natural science should agreeably blend with rural sociology towards the aim of successful biodiversity conservation. Local government support and active community participation are indispensable to effective biodiversity protection and management. Pro-active information dissemination mechanisms to local government councils were a key strategy for enjoining their cooperation for conservation.