BORACAY’S GREEN LINE OF DEFENSE
Known worldwide for its powdery white beaches and lately, for its polluted waters and sixmonth closure to tourists, Boracay Island holds another secret that has been a virtual lifesaver to its marine life: the mangrove (“bakawan”) reforestration project.
Launched in 2012, the Roots for Boracay project works with the community in Barangay Manoc-Manoc to nurture existing mangroves and plant new ones in a bid to protect Boracay’s coastline from erosion.
The mangrove forests, which cover several hectares of Sitio Lugotan’s coastline in the barangay, are part of the Dr. Lucio Tan Legacy Forest Project, whose activities include agroforestry, biodiversity improvement and wildlife protection.
“Mangrove reforestation is one of the best ways to ensure that coastal soil is protected against erosion, especially against big waves,” Tan Yan Kee Foundation Inc. said of the project that it supports and monitors in partnership with Tanduay Distillers Inc., the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the local government.
“Preventing soil erosion and protecting the coastal area dur- ing strong winds and storms will also help preserve the natural beauty and landscape of Sitio Lugotan,” the foundation statement added.
Coastal erosion
A research paper titled “Philippines’ Mangrove Ecosystem: Status, Threats and Conservation,” by Filipino scientists Kristine Garcia, Pastor Malabrigo and Dixon Gevaña explained that “in coastal areas directly exposed to the strong wave action of the Pacific Ocean, coastal erosion was reduced either by mangrove trees or cliffs.”
Aside from helping clean up pollutants on land and providing scenic views, mangrove forests are also a natural habitat for all sorts of marine life that, in turn, create a healthy ecosystem for surrounding waters.
“(With the country) being archipelagic in nature, a large part of the population of the Philippines depends on man- groves for food, livelihood and shelter derived from the mangrove ecosystem,” the research paper noted.
Dependents
“In fact, more than half of the country’s 1,500 towns and 42,000 villages depend on these marine habitats for food and other goods and services,” the paper added.
For the residents of Barangay Manoc-Manoc, the mangrove plantations have served as a filter that makes for cleaner water.
“The (water in the) area is now clear. In the past, it was dirty and had foul odor,” a local resident recalled.
On top of that, mangroves are a natural nursery for fingerlings and other marine life like shells, crabs and stone fishes, giving fisherfolk a bigger catch and better livelihood, the residents said.
“Mangroves offer direct economic benefits,” the founda- tion said, with “the economic equivalent of 1 hectare of mangrove per year estimated at P22,800.”
Entrance fee
To maintain the area, there are plans to charge an entrance fee to the mangrove plantation. A barangay ordinance will also be issued to prevent the harvesting of marine life and the cutting down of trees for firewood and boat-making.
Despite such reforestation efforts, mangrove forests have been declining in area size over the past century.
Mangrove forests accounted for about 4 percent, or 303,669 hectares of the country’s total forest cover in 2015, an alarming decline from an estimated 450,000 hectares in 1918, data from the DENR showed.
Among the threats to these forests are land development, pollution, deforestation for fuel and climate change. Another major reason for the loss of mangroves has been aquaculture or the conversion of waterways to fishponds.
Mimaropa has the largest area of mangrove forests by region, with 68,686 hectares, followed by the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, with 51,770 hectares and Eastern Visayas, with 34,052.