MANGROVES: Going, going, gone?

Text and Photos by Henrylito D. Tacio
People may consider mangroves as eerie. After all, they are oftentimes featured in horror films. In some instances, mangroves are areas where murders are done since they are secluded.
People living in the coastal areas, however, see mangroves in a different manner. They turn to mangroves for cures for various ailments, including premature falling hair, boils, snake bites, smallpox ulcerations, tumors, tonsillitis, pharyngitis, hemorrhoids, skin eruptions, burns, diarrhea, and intestinal bleeding.
Prof. K. Kathiresan, author of The Importance of Mangrove Ecosystem, says a lush mangrove ecosystem offers more than the commonplace prospects for health and medicine. They play a hefty part in indigenous medicine.
“For one, its extracts can be used to reduce blood pressure, even treat leprosy and rheumatic disorders,” writes Prof. Kathiresan. “The bark of some species possesses astringent qualities while others are capable of treating diarrhea when extracts from leaves are prepared as beverage.”
Mangrove forest, also known as the “rainforest of the sea,” grows well in tropical countries, including the Philippines. “Mangroves are an important part of the coastal and marine ecosystem that includes the seagrasses and the coral reefs,” reports the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
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.
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 form one of the most important tropical habitats that support many species, and their loss can affect marine and terrestrial biodiversity much more widely,” pointed out Beth Polidoro, who led the first-ever global assessment on the conservation status of mangroves.
“Despite legislation and programs to protect mangroves, the country has lost 75 percent of its mangroves due largely to fishpond development, charcoal production, industrial conversion, reclamation, and pollution,” said Dr. Fortes.
The current rate of mangrove deforestation ranges from 2,000 to 3,000 hectares per year. That’s according to Dr. Rafael D. Guerrero III, a national scientist and former head of the Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development.
Recent satellite images analyses indicated that Mindanao has the most mangrove areas in the country (29 percent of the country’s total) while Luzon and Mindoro had the least. Old-growth mangrove forests are mainly found in Mindanao (4,582 hectares) and Palawan (5,317 hectares).
Mangrove forests grow where saltwater meets the shore in tropical and subtropical regions, thus serving as an interface between terrestrial, fresh-water and marine ecosystems. These forests provide at least US$1.6 billion each year in ecosystem services.
“The loss of mangroves will have devastating economic and environmental consequences,” says Greg Stone, Senior Vice President of Marine Programs at the Washington-based Conservation International. “These ecosystems are not only a vital component in efforts to fight climate change, but they also protect some of the world’s most vulnerable people from extreme weather and provide them with a source of food and income.”
Mangroves are very important to marine life, Dr. Guerrero says. 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.”
Mangroves also provide protection from storm surges and high winds associated with tropical typhoons. “This is very important in a country that is hit by an average of 20 typhoons a year,” says Dr. Fortes.
“With the threats of climate change in the Philippines particularly storm surges, tsunamis and strong typhoons,” says Dr. Elmer Mercado, a former undersecretary of the DENR, “mangrove is the most appropriate, least expensive climate change adaptation protection for our coastal-based communities.”
Instead of building seawalls, he suggests planting mangroves in areas susceptible to storm surges. By doing so, the government will save money as it is cheaper than building 100-meter of protected seawalls.
Mangrove forests also serve as protection against soil erosion. Other important benefits from mangroves include: land builder through soil accretion; coastal pollutants trapper; and wildlife sanctuary. They also offer aesthetic and educational and scientific values.
Despite the economic and ecological benefits they provide, mangroves are on the verge of disappearance. One environmentalist observes: “All over the country, whatever coastal province you visit, you see the same plight – desolate stretches of shoreline completely stripped of mangrove cover and now totally exposed to the pounding of the ocean’s waves.”
Though mangroves are faced with natural dangers like typhoons, pests and diseases, and rising sea levels due to global warming, “their biggest threats are man-made,” the environment department claims. Among the human treats cited include: conversion of mangroves to fishponds and salt beds; reclamation of mangrove areas for developments such as piers, airports, and housing; pollution and siltation from upland communities; and human disturbances, overexploitation and utilization, such as overcutting for firewood purposes.
To prevent further losses of mangroves, lawmakers enacted Republic Act 8550 otherwise known as Philippine Fisheries Code of 1988 whose section 94 stated that the conversion of mangroves into fishponds or any other purpose is prohibited.
But despite this, mangroves areas in the country are still in peril. “Getting worse,” replies one expert who doesn’t want to be named when asked about the current status of the country’s mangroves. “(The mangroves) remain as the most disturbed among the coastal ecosystems in most places in the country.”