MANILA, Philippines - Once surrounded by mangrove forests, the area on the coastline of Tayabas Bay in San Juan, Batangas was ideal for the private beach house which the late Arsenio Lopez, Jr. and his wife Ofelia built for their family.
Through the years though, the landscape and natural environment of the beach property changed dramatically. Three hectares of the mangrove area behind the house was cleared for prawn farming operations in the 1980s. Gradually, sea level rise eroded the front section of the beach forest. The river that ran through the property changed its course and ate into many sections of the banks. When the prawn farming operations ceased in 1990, the ponds were simply left idle.
“When we were kids, there were a lot more trees and it felt much more like there was a forest around us then. Somehow the place lost its charm,” said one of the younger Lopez children.
Realizing this, the Lopez family decided to help restore the natural ecosystems in their property. They set to work restoring the area by regenerating the mangroves, planting beach forest species, and even encouraging neighboring local communities to adopt more environmentally sound resource-use practices, such as establishing no-fishing and no-cutting zones.
Eventually, the mangroves started to regenerate on their own. Fifteen years later, considerable natural regeneration was noted in some areas of the ponds.
During the prawn farming operations, there were hardly any birds seen in the area. Today, with the forests regenerating, there are regular sightings of huge migratory birds such as herons and egrets as well as other species. The river that runs through the property was also observed to be teeming with much more fish. Bayawaks (monitor lizards), previously thought to be wiped out by the loss of habitat, are also back.
In an effort to create more ways to facilitate the regeneration process, the Lopezes began collecting and germinating a wide variety of seeds and propagules (the fruits or seeds of mangroves) and researching which areas are best for planting particular species. Eventually, they also invited their friends to help them plant the trees.
In the course of their research, the Lopezes were surprised to find out how important mangroves are to global ecosystems, especially in the context of a growing concern for climate change and cleaning the air of greenhouse gases. The forests also proved to be natural buffers to destructive forces like wind and water, becoming a significant factor in deterring the harmful effects of tsunamis, as National Geographic Society research on the 2004 tsunami showed how areas with mangrove forests suffered less damage. Mangrove clusters are also known to be soil-catchers, preventing erosion and maintaining the landscape
The small-scale family initiative of the Lopezes eventually led them to seek assistance from the Jesuit research organization, Environmental Science for Social Change (ESSC) that has supported the effort with scientific and technical assistance over the past year.
ESSC has been a key player in community-based forest conservation efforts in areas like Bukidnon, Mountain Province, and the Agusan marshes.
Peter Walpole, SJ, ESSC executive director, sees the potential of supporting such private sector initiatives, and if such efforts are replicated, family sanctuaries throughout the country may eventually be established.
“This is of great potential at the moment,” he says. “The generation that set up the fishponds have backed off or passed on responsibilities. And the next generation of owners and heirs, more cognizant of the failures as well as of the environmental implications, are less and less inclined to revive pond activities. At the same time, many are beginning to ask, what is there that we can do about the impending problems of ocean level rise, greenhouse gas emissions, and biodiversity conservation, given the already felt effects of coastal erosion and climate change.”
“Most mangrove projects have been reforestation, and not regeneration, in approach. The quick-fix is the monoculture plantations of the common bakaw (Rhizophora) since the propagules of these are the easiest to gather, germinate and plant,” Walpole says, but warns that this is not very good for biodiversity and even encourages the cutting and harvesting as a plantation species.
ESSC and the Lopezes know that assisting the regeneration of other mangrove species will take more effort, but will be worth it. Their property, which has long been a family refuge, has become a natural sanctuary as well.
To learn more about assisted mangrove and beach forestation regeneration, visit www.essc.org.ph or email mangroves@essc.org.ph.