Jeanevive D. Abangan PIA Press Release 11 May 11;
“Wala may kaykay (a kind of tiny clam) sa amo sauna, karon daghan nang makuha. (There used to be no kaykay before in our place but now a number can be picked),” Rolando Baba, mangrove caretaker in Barangay San Juan, Maco in Compostela Valley said.
Baba said such types of bivalve mussels can now be found around planted mangroves in Brgy. San Juan and are now growing at about five to seven feet tall.
Baba has noticed this initial sign of coastal environment improvement when mangroves have been planted since 2006 in the coastal barangay where he used to earn a living mainly from fishing.
He now devotes his service as a mangrove caretaker with an honorarium of P1,500 a month from the municipal government of Maco.
He has found fulfillment in his job. Aside from being paid more than what he used to earn from fishing, he has now known the value of mangroves which, he said, play an important role in protecting the coastal environment from siltation, erosion, as well as in saving lives of coastal residents from the danger of strong winds and waves.
His fellow residents may have yet to fully appreciate the importance of mangroves but Baba has become much aware of how mangroves have begun to bring back the kind of environment conducive for propagation of marine foods.
National Fisherfolk Director Rogelio Amatorio noted the same observation in rehabilitated coastal areas planted with mangroves.
“Noon makakakuha lang ang mga mangingisda ng halos tatlong kilo lang na isda, ngayon may five kilos na,” he said in an interview during the nationwide simultaneous mangrove planting activity done in Region 11 at Purok 9, Brgy. Poblacion, Maco, Compostela Valley.
Amatorio was referring to the 542-hectare coastline planted with mangrove from 2007 to 2010.
In conducting this year’s nationwide simultaneous mangrove-planting activity, Pambansang Alyansa ng mga Mangingisda targeted to cover about 80-hectare coastlines, majority of which were in Palawan and in Manila Bay.
But despite the wider stretch of coastlines now being planted with mangroves, Amatorio said mangroves areas have been degrading at an “alarming rate.”
“Only 30 percent of our mangrove areas are in good state, while 70 percent have been degraded,” he told the media.
Mangrove areas are diminishing due to urban development, Amatorio said, citing particularly conversion to fishponds. “Ang iba kinakahoy.
They just don’t know the value chain in it,” he said.
However, he finds hope for mangrove planting activities to bring back the rich coastal marine ecosystem which nurtures man’s sources of food and serves as man’s protection from natural calamities.
He explained the activity as a collaborative effort among local government units, local fisheries management councils, the private and the non-government sectors. He assured that planted mangroves will be taken care of.
In Maco, the local government is implementing Adopt-A-Mangrove project which requires that a tripartite agreement be signed be signed by the LGU, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the adopting party.
Municipal Environment and Natural Resources officer (MENRO) Allan Olaguer revealed in a forum yesterday that among those which have adopted a mangrove area in Maco are the Knights of Columbus, Maco National High School, the Association of Barangay Captains, and the provincial government of Compostela Valley.
The others, Olaguer said are the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, Maco Development Cooperative, Apex Mining, and the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) student-members of the University of Mindanao.
Maco has six coastal barangays with about 100-hectare coastline which can be developed into mangrove plantation which forms part of the development agenda of Maco Mayor Arthur Carlos Voltaire Rimando.
Nowadays, Baba is keeping his hands busy looking after the more than 2,000 planted mangroves in Barangay San Juan, but he is looking forward to going back to fishing.
He is optimistic that indeed the mangroves will eventually trigger an increase in fish stocks, not just bring about propagation of shells and clams. “Makabalik ra pohon og pangisda. (I may someday go back to fishing,” he said. (PIA-11/ Jeanevive Duron-Abangan)
