Text and Photos by Henrylito D. Tacio
“Mangroves provide a wide array of goods and services, including coastal protection, shoreline protection, flood regulation, fish/invertebrate nurseries, [and] wildlife habitat. Therefore, conserving and restoring mangroves will mean making these goods and services, particularly protection from typhoons and storm surges, available to coastal towns and villages, improving fisheries’ catches and incomes of fishers and providing food security for all—including urban dwellers.” — Dr. Jurgenne Honculada-Primavera
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If you think deforestation happens only in the uplands, then you’re wrong. Even in coastal areas, trees growing along the seashores are not spared from being cut.
At the time when there was census, the Philippines had about 450,000 hectares of mangrove forests. It went down to 375,000 hectares in 1950 and further to 100,000 hectares in the late 1990s.
“In almost all parts of the Philippines, 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,” observed an environmental activist.
A report prepared by the National Mangrove Committee said that reclamation of mangrove areas for agriculture has caused rapid disappearance of coastal forests. In the Island Garden City of Samal, the mangroves were cut to give way to fishponds.
Nature also plays a part in decimating the mangrove areas in the country. When super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) hit Leyte and Samar, among those that were badly destroyed were the mangrove forests.
Philippine mangrove forests occupy the area of the coastal zone between the mean sea level and extreme high water of spring tides, explains Dr. Miguel D. Fortes, a professor of the marine science institute at the University of the Philippines in Diliman.
“Mangroves thrive in sheltered tidal flats, coves, bays and river estuaries,” Dr. Fortes says. “Usually they are associated with thick strands of medium-sized and even-aged trees, nipa palms and other herbaceous plants.”
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, 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).
To save the remaining mangroves and to restore areas with thriving mangroves before, experts are recommending reforestation programs. But a scientist known for her contribution to mangrove conservation says that most of these programs fail because they were implemented without the support of science-based guidelines.
Dr. Jurgenne Honculada-Primavera pointed this out during the recent Cebu workshop, which was convened by the Philippine Ecosystem Alliance. She holds BS and MA degrees in zoology and a PhD in marine science. From 2006 to 2010, she received a Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation, “for which she worked toward conserving mangroves through formal education and local governance.”
During her presentation, she told participants that there are several species of mangroves and most species are site specific. “Bakhaw is suited for planting along riverbanks, tidal creeks and other sheltered sites,” MindaNews quoted her as saying.
Two types of bakhaw are known in the science world as Rhizophora stylosa and R. epiculata. More often than not, in rehabilitation projects, these are planted on seafronts causing high mortality.
Other species like pagatpat (Sonneratia alba), bongalon (Avicennia alba) and apiapi (Avicennia marina) are planted as front liners.
“Site selection should be done during neap tide — a major paradigm shift from the past protocol selecting exposed sites during spring tide — which turn out to be flooded when the neap tides follow, resulting in mortality of seedlings,” Dr. Primavera was quoted as saying.
“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 (BMB), 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.
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.”
But there’s more to mangroves than just fishery. “Healthy mangroves regulate floods, control erosion, recycle nutrients, and trap sediments,” Dr. Primavera was quoted in an international magazine. “Mangroves also have cultural-historical significance. The premier Philippine city of Manila or Maynila owes its name to the species Scyphiphora hydrophyllacea, locally called nilad, which grew abundantly along Manila Bay and the river Pasig in pre-Hispanic times.”
