“Ecologically disturbed.” That is how the recently-released summit proceedings described the status of mangroves of Southern Luzon.
In Marinduque, for instance, the dumping of mine wastes along the coastal areas has been cited as the biggest threat to mangroves in the province.
“From 1975 to 1988, almost 300 million dry metric tons of mine tailings were directly dumped in Calacang Bay by the Marcopper Mining Corporation,” the proceedings said. “In 1979 to 1997, the Consolidated Mines Incorporated directly dumped their mine tailings in Ulong Bay, Mogpog.”
In Romblon, among those that have been cited as culprit of mangrove denudation include illegal construction of fishponds, human settlements and reclamation, unregulated tourism development and illegal beach quarrying.
“Threats both from anthropogenic and natural causes greatly contribute to the degradation of the mangrove forests in the province,” said the proceedings which was edited by Severino G. Salmo III, Abigail Marie T. Favis, Marie Nathalie S. Ting and Anne Brigitte U. Lim.
In Occidental Mindoro, the decline of mangrove stands can be traced to the conversion of mangroves into aquaculture areas, reclamation and conversion for agricultural production and human settlements, cuttings of mangroves for firewood and housing materials, and flooding, soil erosion and sedimentation.
Some mangrove areas in Oriental Mindoro has likewise decline due to cutting, conversion into residential areas, and influx of coastal residents from other municipalities and provinces.
The mangroves in Batangas were not spared. “Clearing of mangrove forests may be blamed on the development of coasts for aquaculture, residential settlements and tourist facilities and infrastructures,” said Lorena A. Candava, the head of the provincial forest management section.
In Cavite, the decline was due to the conversion into fishponds, salt beds and built-up for settlement areas. “Mangroves are also used as wood for charcoal-making,” the report added.
But there is some good news. In Palawan, the country’s last frontier, mangrove areas have increased over the years: from only 3.4% cover in 1992, it went up to 3.5% in 1998, 4.0% in 1992 and 4.4% in 2010.
“Despite these, mangrove forests are still threatened by human activities,” deplored Noel E. Aquino, of the provincial environment and natural resources office. “The ‘open access’ mangrove forests in some areas are still exploited for construction materials, firewood, tanbark, charcoal and for conversion into fishponds.”
But it’s not only in Southern Luzon where mangroves are fast disappearing. It is true even in others parts of the country.
From its original area of approximately 450,000 hectares in 1918, the mangrove areas went down to 140,000 hectares in 1991. It decreased further in 1994 to 120,000 hectares, according to Dr. Carmelita I. Villamor, of the Ecosystems Research and Development (ERDB).
In her paper, she summarized the culprits of mangrove denudation in the country, among which were logging for firewood, harvesting for tanbarks, and the conversion of mangroves to fishponds for milkfish and prawn culture.
“In the 1950s, mangrove firewood was the preferred fuel source in coastal villages and most bakeries because of its high heating value,” Villamor reported. “But a greater volume was exported to Japan as firewood, which reportedly became the source of rayon.”
Large tracks of mangrove forests were lost and degraded when the government encouraged development of aquaculture to increase food production in the 1960s. Around half of the 279,000 hectares disappeared between 1961 and 1988 due to conversion into milkfish or shrimp ponds, according to other reports.
Mangroves grow well in tropical countries, including the Philippines. But most Filipinos don’t consider mangroves – touted to be the forests in the coastal areas – as important.
“Coastal forests…. are not familiar to the average Filipino due to their early loss,” wrote Jurgenne Primavera and Resurreccion Sadaba in the book, Beach Forest Species and Mangrove Associates in the Philippines. “They’ve long gone unreported in the yearly Philippine Forestry Statistics.”
Actually, mangroves are communities of trees in the tidal flats in coastal waters, extending inland along rivers where the water is tidal, saline, or brackish. “There are 25 to 30 species of true mangrove trees and an equal number of associated species,” says Dr. Miguel Fortes, a professor of Marine Science Institute at the College of Science of University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.
Dr. Theresa Mundita Lim, director of the Biodiversity Management Bureau, says its agency has identified 42 species of mangroves in the country. None of them are facing extinction yet. But the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is considering of putting 11 out of 70 mangrove species assessed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Mangroves are very important to marine life, says Dr. Rafael D. Guerrero III, former head of the Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development. They serve as sanctuaries and feeding grounds for fish that nibble on detritus (fallen and decaying leaves) trapped in the vegetation, and on the bark and leaves of living trees.
“(Mangroves) are important feeding sites for many commercially important fish species (mullet, tilapia, eel, and especially milkfish), shrimps, prawns, mollusks, crabs, and sea cucumbers,” a World Bank report on environment adds. “Fry that gather in mangrove areas are very important for aquaculture.”
Unknowingly, mangroves also help protect people and even properties from destruction brought about by typhoons. Moises Neil V. Seriño, assistant professor of the Department of Economics at the Visayas State University, found this out after he and co-researchers conducted a study on the aftermath of super typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) in 2013.
“Our study shows that mangrove vegetation reduced the number of deaths and damaged houses during the Yolanda incident,” Seriño said. “This property and lifesaving effects of mangrove is robust. Mangroves can protect us (our lives, livelihood and properties) from damaging effects of typhoons.”
The Conservation International and Turing Foundation agree. In their message in the proceedings of State of Mangrove Summit, the two organizations noted: “These natural buffers (referring to mangroves) are even more important now considering how the super typhoon Haiyan wreaked havoc, claiming over 6,000 lives in the Philippines. Haiyan will always serve important lessons on our climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies.
“We need to protect and rehabilitate our mangrove ecosystems,” they added.
