HOW CAN WE CREATE MORE LIVELIHOOD PROJECTS IN MANGROVE FORESTS TO MAKE THEM MORE SUSTAINABLE?

HOW CAN WE CREATE MORE LIVELIHOOD PROJECTS IN MANGROVE FORESTS TO MAKE THEM MORE SUSTAINABLE?

I have an idea. It is such a simple idea that it is almost a no-brainer: If we want people to protect mangrove forests, let us create more livelihoods from the forests without destroying them.

I am an alumnus of the Sigma Rho Fraternity of the University of the Philippines. Years ago, two distinguished Sigma Rho alumni, former DENR Secretary Fulgencio Factoran and former Aklan Congressman Allen Quimpo, helped establish what is now known as the Bakhawan Nature Study and Eco-Park in Kalibo, Aklan. Both have passed on, but their legacy lives on.

I visited the mangrove forest about ten years ago, and perhaps it was there that I became seriously interested in mangrove advocacy. The lesson I learned was fascinating: healthy mangroves support plankton; plankton support shrimp and other marine organisms; and these, in turn, attract fish. Crabs also thrive in mangrove ecosystems.

But why stop there?

I saw that fishponds could provide another livelihood. I learned about tamilok, the marine shipworm considered a delicacy in some parts of the Philippines. I also saw how fallen branches could be converted into charcoal, although that particular activity had stopped after the charcoal-making machine broke.

My research has since opened my eyes to many more possibilities. Some mangrove and associated plants have edible products that can potentially be processed into preserves or other food products. Properly managed pruning can provide branches for handicrafts or furniture. Certain leaves can be developed into teas. And now I am particularly interested in mangrove honey.

During an online forum of Future Earth Philippines, Dr. Hiyas Junio mentioned that bees pollinate mangrove flowers. I contacted her, and she referred me to the UPLB Bee Program. Interestingly, she had visited the Kalibo mangrove forest only weeks earlier and had met Mrs. Marianne Quimpo, widow of the late Congressman Quimpo. I cannot help but think that this is providential.

UPLB research has actually documented honeybees and carpenter bees visiting and pollinating Philippine mangrove species. The UPLB Bee Program also provides technical assistance in apiary establishment, beekeeping management, honey analysis and other bee-related technologies. 

So why not establish a Mangrove Livelihood Laboratory in Kalibo?

Let us experiment with beekeeping, mangrove-associated food products, aquaculture, ecotourism, handicrafts, composting, and other non-destructive enterprises. Let us also find useful products for fallen mangrove leaves instead of simply composting them.

And there is another potentially important source of income: blue carbon. Mangroves are recognized as important carbon sinks, storing carbon in both their biomass and sediments. The Philippines is also exploring blue-carbon and biodiversity-credit mechanisms, including projects designed to generate carbon credits from mangrove restoration.

I am already studying how mangrove carbon credits could be measured, monitored and eventually sold. I even have software that could help. With IoT, satellite imagery and artificial intelligence, perhaps we can eventually measure and monitor mangrove trees almost tree by tree.

My dream is simple: Let us make mangrove forests valuable without destroying them.

If we can create enough legitimate livelihoods from healthy mangroves, coastal communities will have another reason to protect them.

And if the Sigma Rho Mangrove Forest in Kalibo can become a laboratory for these ideas, perhaps its success can eventually be replicated throughout the Philippines.

That, to me, is how we make mangrove conservation sustainable—not merely by asking people to protect the forest, but by helping them prosper because the forest is alive.

The strongest addition, in my view, is the idea of a “Mangrove Livelihood Laboratory” in Kalibo. It turns the project from simply another mangrove planting activity into a demonstration site where different income-generating models can be tested, measured and replicated nationwide.

RAMON IKE V. SENERES

www.facebook.com/ike.seneres  iseneres@yahoo.com  senseneres.blogspot.com  09088877282/08-19-2027

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