Apo Reef in 1980. This was followed with the local government of Sablayan declaring the reef a special "Tourism Zone and Marine Reserve" three years later. In 1996, the entire reef was declared a protected natural park by then-president Fidel Ramos. In 2006, the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau of the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources submitted the reef to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre for consideration as a World Heritage Site. Following a survey by the local chapter of the World Wide Fund for Nature, fishing within the reef was banned by the Philippine government in September 2007. The
Piracy off the coast of Somalia set sail from Djibouti and was headed to Mogadishu. This was alleged to be the first "successful" hijacking of a large vessel since 2012. While initially the pirate crew demanded a ransom, the ship and its crew were released with no ransom given after the crew learned that the ship had been hired by Somali businessmen. Piracy off the coast of Somalia Piracy off the coast of Somalia has been a threat to international shipping since the second phase of the Somali Civil War, around 2000. Fishing communities responded by forming armed groups to deter the invaders by hijacking commercial