The Park also undertakes ecosystem research and monitoring, which includes comparison sites outside the Park, to improve understanding of biological resources and ecological processes in the Park, to help anticipate potential problems and serve as a basis for decision-making.
To protect the reef from damage, the Park has established regulations for diving in Tubbataha, which all dive operators and scuba divers are required to follow.
Zoning is used in the Park to keep conflicting activities separate from each other and to protect areas that need permanent conservation. For example, scuba diving and snorkeling are not allowed in the lagoons of the North and South Atolls as these contain fragile species and habitats that are particularly sensitive to disturbance.