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
Artificial reef material because no toxic substances are released from the decomposition of tires; though there is little information published to back up the claims and the future decomposing of the many different types of rubber tires could create unseen pollution. Tires have fallen out of favor with marine biologists. Tropical storms may demolish the tire containment system, washing tires onto beaches, destroying nearby coral reefs and inhibiting new coral growth. As a result, states such as Florida and the country of France have begun large-scale removal of tire reefs. On the Osborne Reef off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida boaters