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Text and photos by Don Geoff
Tabaranza, Jose Ma. Antonio Bringas
and Gregorio de la Rosa Jr.
We’ve read it before. The
conversion of mangrove habitat into shrimp farms, tourist resorts,
agricultural and urban land over the past decades, as well as
destruction of coral reefs, contributed significantly to the
catastrophic loss of human lives and settlements during the 2004
tsunami. Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand have experienced
recent net losses of mangrove cover. Between 1980 and 2000, the
total area of mangroves in these four countries was reduced by 28
percent, from over 5 million to 3.6 million hectares.
Four years after, it happened
again. It is claimed that degraded mangroves exacerbated the recent
Burma cyclone disaster. Burma’s coastal degradation has been a
worry for some time. Researchers in Myanmar estimate that 83 percent
of the mangroves in the Irrawaddy were destroyed between 1924 and
1999.
Burma, Indonesia, Sri Lanka,
India, and Thailand are not exceptional cases. Coastal residents all
over the Philippines faces the common problem of mangrove cover
loss. The coastal
habitats they depend on to fish are severely damaged by the use of
explosives, sodium cyanide for aquarium fishing and fine meshed
nets. Ignorance and
poverty continue to cause fisherfolks to practice destructive
fishing and exploit their resources beyond sustainable limits. As a
result, the condition of mangrove forests in the Philippines is fast
deteriorating. Conversion
to fishponds and over-exploitation for wood and other resources are
the major culprits to the depletion of mangrove forests. In the past
100 years, the Philippine mangrove forests have been reduced from
500,000 hectares to around 100,000 hectares with only 5 percent
primary or old growth forest left.
There is no rational mangrove
forest conservation program in the Philippines. However, there are
some noteworthy efforts being done by local governments (LGUs),
academe, NGOs and people’s organizations. These initiatives have
been properly recognized but remain mostly as reforestation projects
with single species or monoculture stands due to scarcity of
information on the mangroves’ economic, ecological and aesthetic
importance and how to manage them properly.
In Cortes, Surigao del Sur,
mangroves continuously decline at an alarming rate due to illegal
harvesting of resources and destructive fishing practices. As a
result, fishery resources that are dependent on this ecosystem are
heavily distressed thereby affecting the everyday existence of local
communities. This situation is an evidence of coastal resource
mismanagement. The mismanagement of coastal resources is a
manifestation of economic and political symptoms that continue to
eat up our natural resource capital. Decreasing yields, falling
incomes and unemployment, rising prices, hunger and malnutrition and
social conflicts beset the ever-increasing populace in the coastal
areas.
To rehabilitate and conserve the
mangrove resources of Cortes, a systematic approach of
community-based coastal resource management must be facilitated.
This will provide integration of all stakeholders especially local
communities and the local governments who are the main players in
taking action towards a more sustainable use of resources.
The Governance and Local
Development of Endangered (GOLDEN) Landscapes and Seascapes
project’s objective is to conserve the remaining forest and
coastal areas and rehabilitate the denuded areas in Surigao del Sur.
Thus, “Mangrove Reforestation” trainings in collaboration with
the LGUs, People’s Organizations and other stakeholders are
imperative.
On March 10, 2008, the mangrove
reforestation project in Barangay Burgos, Cortes, Surigao del Sur,
was initiated through a basic mangrove ecology orientation provided
by Haribon Foundation for the residents, youth and local government
officials of the barangay. This
was then followed by a more comprehensive mangrove restoration and
management training-workshop organized and facilitated by Haribon on
April 28 to 30, 2008.
The activity built on the
capacity of the community to restore and manage their mangrove
resources. At the same
time the activity also aimed to raise the community’s awareness
about the status of mangrove forests in the Philippines, gather
lessons learned from previous mangrove restoration projects and
provide “hands-on” experience in mangrove resource mapping,
planning, mangrove propagule and wilding collection and planting.
Thirty-one participants attended
the training-workshop. Seventeen from fisherfolk organizations:
Kadagatan Ampingan Pagmata Katawhan (KAAMPAKA) of Barangay Burgos,
Nagpakabanang Mananagat sa Tigao (NAMATI) of Barangay Tigao and
Mabahin WoodCraft Multi Purpose Cooperative (MWMPC) of Barangay
Mabahin. Six youth leaders from the Sanguniang Kabataan
also joined. Barangay Captain Castro Cubero and four
Sanguniang Barangay members of Barangay Burgos as well as three
municipal LGU representatives led by Municipal Environment
Management and Protection Officer (MEMPO) Vincent Duenas were
present to provide support and participate in the training.
Looking back in the days we spent
with the community of Cortes, we realized that although it was a
short period of time— experiences were shared and newly acquired
knowledge now has the potential to propagate mangrove conservation
measures. Mangroves perform vital ecosystem functions, form a
life-saving shield against all storm events and provide coastal
communities with many services and utilizable products. Conserving
and replanting coastal mangrove areas are essential strategies if
coastal communities are to recover and be protected from future
similar events like the 2004 Asian tsunami and the recent Burma
cyclone. As Erik von kuehnelt-Leddihn once said, aside from having a
son, and writing a book, planting a tree also defines immortality—
it is by far a much memorable way to go down in history books as
environmental stewards than being listed as casualties of a natural
disaster.
For information how you can
join Haribon Foundation’s initiatives to conserve our endemic
species, e-mail: communication@haribon.org.ph, or visit
www.haribon.org.ph.
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