Sunday, December 24, 2006 Rehabilitating Sarangani Bay
MALAPATAN, Sarangani -- Residents of two coastal villages here are reaping the fruits of their labor in protecting the marine resource-rich Sarangani Bay through a two-pronged conservation efforts.
The agro-forestry and coastline protection undertaken under the umbrella of Sandayong, which is composed of 18 peoples' organization, have given birth to fish cage ventures in Barangays Sapu Masla and Sapu Padido.
About 7,000 hectares of land in the mountains of this sleepy town are covered by the agro-forestry project where various fruit-bearing tree species such as mango, durian, lanzones and rambutan are now planted.
"Some 4,000 fruit trees have been planted and they are significantly preventing siltation towards the bay," said Allan de Lima, operations chief of the Center for Advancement and Strengthening of Community Property Rights, Inc. (CASCO).
The agro-forestry is just the first defense barrier against soil erosion at Sarangani Bay. The second is the planting of mangrove right at the shorelines, which is considerably far more important to fishermen depending on the sea for a living.
The agro-forestry and mangrove rehabilitation are part of CASCO's Micro-Watershed Management Project in the town implemented by Sandayong.
CASCO is a young non-government organization involved in the development of communities, particularly in the conservation and responsible use of coastal resources.
An estimated eight kilometers of shoreline are covered by the mangrove rehabilitation program, an ocular inspection of the project showed.
"The mangroves are an important part of the ocean system. Conserving them has helped us a lot in that we were able to venture into high-value fish cage ventures," Rashid Bani, chairman of the Sapu Masla Fisherfolk Association.
"The mangroves also stood as barriers for soil and mud to penetrate the coastline," he added.
A former fighter of the Moro National Liberation Front, Bani and other ex-Moro rebels have been growing groupers and talakitok several meters from the shoreline.
Bani said they have established a mangrove nursery to cover more areas not just in the town but in the neighboring municipalities benefiting from Sarangani Bay.
The 214,000-hectare bay covers the towns of Glan, Malapatan, Alabel, Maasim, all in Sarangani province, and General Santos City.
On March 5, 1996, Sarangani Bay was proclaimed by President Fidel Ramos a protected seascape by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 756.
Among the varieties of mangrove that the nursery, which was put up with a funding of only P20,000, produces are "bakao" and "pagatpat."
Bani said they sell mangrove planting materials to sustain the operations of the nursery.
De Lima said among the clients of the nursery is the Sarangani provincial government, which has been separately rehabilitating depleted mangrove areas under its jurisdiction.
A survey conducted last year by the Washington-based Population Reference Bureau showed that mangrove conservation appears to have least importance among Filipino journalists covering the environment, despite the tremendous importance of mangroves to the ocean and humans in general.
Kathleen Mogelgaard, a PRB environment fellow, said journalists covered by the survey report on a wide-range of issues from air pollution to marine ecosystems to waste management.
"But none of them selected wetlands and mangroves as one of the most important environmental issues facing the Philippines," she said.
Results of the online survey, which covered 27 journalists representing at least 13 national and regional news outlets, were released during a seminar on "Exploring Population, Health and Environment Linkages in the Philippines" in Iloilo City.
Mogelgaard said that 46 percent of the respondents rated forests and logging as one of the three most important environmental issues; 39 percent for agriculture and food production; and another 39 percent for waste management.
Dr. Jurgenne Primavera, senior scientist of the Aquaculture Department of the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, noted how print media poorly treat mangrove conservation stories.
Primavera, an internationally renowned scientist, lamented that "only one of the ten local and national media outlets" previously carried a particular article on a mangrove-friendly project.
"Mangroves are vital component of the marine environment...and it's sad that communities' effort to preserve or rehabilitate mangrove areas is not so much highlighted in the media," she said.
Primavera noted the deadly Tsunami that hit parts of Asia two years ago, which killed tens of thousands of people and destroyed billions of dollars worth of properties, could have been mitigated had there been sufficient mangrove areas in the devastated countries.
She stressed that mangroves act as protective shields that would cushion the impact of giant waves.
Aside from serving as "defense barrier," mangroves have lots of other traditional uses, according to Primavera, a recipient of a Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation.
For instance, the bark of Avicennia alba can serve as astringent and its resinous secretion for birth control, she said.
Primavera said the leaves of Excoecaria agallocha can be used to treat epilepsy, its sap for ulcers and toothaches.
Other mangrove varieties, according to her, can be used to treat diarrhea and dysentery, to groom hair, as food ingredient, and as skin cosmetic.
But on top of all that, Primavera said that mangroves are important to keep marine biodiversity in place, as in the case of Sarangani Bay under this town.
According to another expert, Dr. Oliver Coroza, Conservation International's mapping scientist, mangroves serve as nursery ground of crabs, shrimps and various kinds of fishes.
"It's really important for communities to conserve mangroves," he said. (BSS)
