Malampaya Sound Ecological Studies Project

The Malampaya Sound in Palawan hosts the endangered Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris). To understand how this species can be conserved, the Malampaya Project completed ecological, fishery and socio-economic studies of the Malampaya Sound. With support from Shell Exploration Philippines, the project continues to monitor dolphin populations annually. Because of its small population (<100) and a limited habitat confined to Malampaya Sound, WWF-Philippines and DENR successfully lobbied for its listing as critically endangered under the IUCN red data list. With technical support provided by the project, the municipality of Taytay and the Malampaya park management are developing fishery policies to minimize the threats to the Irrawaddy dolphin from by-catch capture. In the next two years, gear studies and gear modification to conserve the dolphin species will be implemented.To know more about this project, please email mmatillano@wwf.org.ph

Learn more about the Irrawaddy dolphin.

The project successfully reached completion in 2007.