ILOILO – The provincial government hopes to plant 10,000 mangrove propagules today in the municipalities of Leganes and Dumangas.
Some 5,000 mangrove propagules are being targeted for planting in Barangay Bigke, Leganes and another 5,000 in Barangay Ermita, Dumangas, according to Mitzi Peñaflorida, senior environmental management specialist of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office.
Around 1,000 people are expected to join the mangrove planting. They include employees of the provincial government, national government agencies and local government units.
After the mangrove planting, the participants would conduct a coastal cleanup in barangays Bigke and Ermina, said Peñaflorida.
These activities are in line with the provincial government’s observance of May as “Month of the Ocean”, she explained, and Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr.’s “Action for Regreening and Transformation” (ART) program that started in 2011.
Every year, ART targets to plant one million trees and mangroves.
Mangrove forests are extremely productive ecosystems that provide numerous goods and services both to the marine environment and people. They are home to a large variety of fish, crab, shrimp, and mollusk species. These fisheries form an essential source of food for coastal communities.
The dense root systems of mangrove forests trap sediments flowing down rivers and off the land. This helps stabilizes the coastline and prevents erosion from waves and storms. In areas where mangroves have been cleared, coastal damage from typhoons is much more severe./PN
