Plant mangroves for protection - Defensor
Ceremonial mangrove planting
15th Pista sang Kakahuyan
Ermita, Dumangas, Iloilo
Sept. 27, 2014
Today's ceremonial mangrove planting here, 15 km. north of Iloilo City, is also replicated in four coastal towns of Iloilo - highlighting the tremendous benefits Iloilo will reap by regreening its coasts on one hand, and the grave dangers it faces if its near-decimated mangroves and beach forest went unchecked.
Some 500 volunteers from government offices and private groups joined the planting on prearranged areas - three bakhaw propagules laid beside each pre-dug hill.
"When I was small, I didn't value mangroves," recalled Iloilo Gov. Arthur D. Defensor, Sr. "They were cut down in wide areas not only in Iloilo but in the whole country."
Defensor admitted he learned to appreciate mangroves only in his adult years.
"We only learned lately that they are habitat and breeding ground of fishes," he said.
He cited Molocaboc Island, Sagay City, Negros Occidental.
"Mangroves transformed the lives of its people: they no longer resort to illegal fishing; they are no longer hungry, and they are now able to send their children to college," Defensor added.
Government and residents regreened Molocaboc beaches about 15 years ago. Today the island boasts of a 300-ha. mangrove forest.
Jurgenne H. Primavera of Seafdec, a fishery research consortium based in Tigbauan, Iloilo, calls mangroves "first line of defense" against hunger, pest, diseases and calamities like storm surges and tsunamis. They purify or filter the water for the safety of marine life under, and before water seeps down he aquifer.
Defensor told volunteer- planters, another reason to plant mangroves: "(Supertyphoon) Yolanda highlighted another value of mangroves: people in islands with mangroves like Molocaboc, Sagay, were save from storm surges which killed hundreds, even thousands in other islands without them".
Primavera, internationally acclaimed marine expert for her books on mangroves, argues that mangroves and their cousins beach trees are valued for their ability to cushion global warming -- they sequester carbons (main greenhouse gas in the atmosphere) "10 times more efficient" than mountain forests.
15th Pista sang Kakahuyan
Ermita, Dumangas, Iloilo
Sept. 27, 2014
 |
| Defensor (in stripes) with Dumangas emergency responders |
Today's ceremonial mangrove planting here, 15 km. north of Iloilo City, is also replicated in four coastal towns of Iloilo - highlighting the tremendous benefits Iloilo will reap by regreening its coasts on one hand, and the grave dangers it faces if its near-decimated mangroves and beach forest went unchecked.
Some 500 volunteers from government offices and private groups joined the planting on prearranged areas - three bakhaw propagules laid beside each pre-dug hill.
"When I was small, I didn't value mangroves," recalled Iloilo Gov. Arthur D. Defensor, Sr. "They were cut down in wide areas not only in Iloilo but in the whole country."
Defensor admitted he learned to appreciate mangroves only in his adult years.
"We only learned lately that they are habitat and breeding ground of fishes," he said.
He cited Molocaboc Island, Sagay City, Negros Occidental.
"Mangroves transformed the lives of its people: they no longer resort to illegal fishing; they are no longer hungry, and they are now able to send their children to college," Defensor added.
Government and residents regreened Molocaboc beaches about 15 years ago. Today the island boasts of a 300-ha. mangrove forest.
Jurgenne H. Primavera of Seafdec, a fishery research consortium based in Tigbauan, Iloilo, calls mangroves "first line of defense" against hunger, pest, diseases and calamities like storm surges and tsunamis. They purify or filter the water for the safety of marine life under, and before water seeps down he aquifer.
Defensor told volunteer- planters, another reason to plant mangroves: "(Supertyphoon) Yolanda highlighted another value of mangroves: people in islands with mangroves like Molocaboc, Sagay, were save from storm surges which killed hundreds, even thousands in other islands without them".
Primavera, internationally acclaimed marine expert for her books on mangroves, argues that mangroves and their cousins beach trees are valued for their ability to cushion global warming -- they sequester carbons (main greenhouse gas in the atmosphere) "10 times more efficient" than mountain forests.
Comments
Post a Comment