The World Heritage site of the Tubbataha Reef Marine Park in the Philippines will benefit from the total amount of £13,540 collected through an auction organized in February by the Swiss watch company Jaeger-LeCoultre, within the framework of the partnership with UNESCO's World Heritage Centre and the International Herald Tribune.

The purchase of a watch designed to celebrate this partnership, as well as the auction registration fees, enabled financing of a project which aims to fight against illegal fishing in this natural park where the only permitted activities are tourism and research.

Composed of two atolls and one reef, the site will be provided with radar and a solar energy system to assist a team of marine park rangers which patrols the reefs from a station located in a sand bar in the North Atoll of Tubbataha.

The objective of the 'Tides of Time' partnership between Jaeger-LeCoultre, the International Herald Tribune and the World Heritage Centre is to increase protection of the marine World Heritage sites. For this purpose, a media campaign carried out by Jaeger-LeCoultre on the pages of the International Herald Tribune provides information on the specificity of the marine sites, their needs and the threats they are facing. Jaeger-LeCoultre also supports the World Heritage Marine Programme through an annual financial contribution to UNESCO.