COASTAL AND MARINE RESOURCE INFORMATION SYSTEM (CMARIS): 
A SPATIAL APPROACH TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE ECOREGIONAL MANAGEMENT 
A.J A 
. Ramos 
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) — Philippines, LBI Building, #57 Kalayaan Ave, Diliman, Quezon City, 1101 - 
aramos(d wwf-phil.org.ph 
KEY WORDS: Decision Support, Databases, Mapping, Marine, 
ABSTRACT: 
Coast, GIS, Internet/ Web, Ecosystem 
The Sulu-Sulawesi Seas comprise one of the most biologically diverse marine ecoregions in the world. Situated at the center of the 
coral triangle, the ecoregion hosts at least 450 species of corals, significant populations of marine turtles, critical mangrove and 
seagrass habitats, marine mammals, including commercially important species collectively supporting multi-billion dollar fishing 
industries and subsistence livelihoods for a population of millions from Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Dedicated to the 
sustainable management and conservation of the area, WWF launched the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion (SSME) Program in 
1999 to address the continued decline of marine resources and biological diversity comprising the Sulu-Sulawesi Seas. Prior to the 
implementation of the project, the Coastal and Marine Resource 
program, as well conservation activities in the region, by providing information crucia 
Information System, or CMARIS, was established to support the 
| to the strategic conservation planning and 
management processes. CMARIS offers a computer-based information system, featuring an online Spatial Decision Support System 
(SDSS) and a database retrieval system for relevant documents, 
centers contact information. It seeks to improve the current syste 
and marine resource information an 
specific policies on the marine environment. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
In 1998, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) conceptualized an 
ecoregion-based approach to conservation, identifying more 
than 200 ecoregions around the globe. An ecoregion is defined 
as relatively a large unit of land or water containing à 
geographically distinct assemblage of natural communities that 
share a large majority of their species, dynamics and 
environmental conditions. Contrary to conservation at smaller 
scales, this approach is more beneficial and widespread, due to 
the fact that key ecological processes supporting the component 
ecosystems are largely intact within a single ecological 
boundary. 
The SSME is recognized as having the highest marine 
biodiversity in the world. With an approximate area of a million 
square kilometers, the ecoregion contains extensive mangrove 
estuarine assemblages, marine plants communities and coral 
reef habitats sprawled along the coastal areas of the three 
countries. However, these marine ecosystems and the natural 
resource base they support are constantly threatened as human 
population growth, over-consumption, destructive fishing 
practices, poorly planned | development, pollution and 
ihsufficient conservation resources take their toll. 
Recognizing this growing threat, the SSME program developed 
an overall framework and an ecoregional conservation plan 
bringing together various stakeholders from Indonesia, 
Malaysia and the Philippines. The plan spells out specific 
actions to be undertaken at the local, national and ecoregional 
levels for the protection of marine wildlife population, 
conservation of key sites in the SSME, establishment of 
institutional mechanisms necessary to pursue the ecoregion 
program, networking with relevant local, national and regional 
programs and institutions, and the coordination and 
management of the SSME Conservation Planning process. 
statistical information, environmental law concepts, and resource 
m for collection, organization, accessibility and delivery of coastal 
d provide an effective means to help policy makers gain understanding of the potential impacts of 
The overall management associated with the concept of an 
ecoregion dictates the need for a wide variety of information 
available on the coastal and marine resources, development 
patterns, socio-economic trends, and the political context. The 
availability of an easily and universally accessible information 
database with an analytical engine for policy-support will 
greatly facilitate the decision making and consensus-building 
processes among the various stakeholders of the SSME. This 
recognition has led to the development of CMARIS as a system 
that provides an interactive display of coastal, marine and other 
related information and serves as an analytical and heuristic 
tool to facilitate a broader understanding of marine policy 
issues in the context and perspective of a shared marine 
ecoregion. 
CMARIS was designed to integrate spatial environmental data 
with referenced legal, statistical, and institutional frameworks: 
supporting three levels of ecoregional management —from an 
ecoregional-perspective, at national scales, down to site- 
specific conservation areas. Tools are provided to help in 
evaluating the constraints and opportunities in the management 
of these coastal and marine areas through the deployment of an 
online-GIS support system, integrated with a database 
management system to magnify the impact of geographic 
information technology towards marine conservation. 
Overall, CMARIS supports three related core activities: 
e Provision of a customized interactive computer 
application capable of processing marine and coastal 
spatial information in GIS format and a database 
retrieval system for relevant documents, statistical 
information, environmental laws and regulations, and 
resource centers made available through the web 
(www.cmaris.net) and in CD-ROM version 
e Provision of maps of various scales presenting 
specific levels of management -— Ecoregional, 
1002 
The 
beer 
Libr 
forn 
cart 
info 
fron 
satel 
exis 
The 
has 
Supp