EL SALVADOR CITY—Stakeholders in Misamis Oriental protect the environment and conserve marine life in the Macajalar Bay by growing mangrove trees and sustaining the availability of its seedlings.
Energy firm Steag State Power Inc. (SPI), the Macajalar Bay Development Alliance (MBDA) and the 4th Infantry Diamond Division (4ID), in collaboration with the local government of El Salvador City, were involved in mangrove growing along the eastern shores of the province.
SPI, through its environmental protection program, donated to this city an initial amount of P127,000 for the establishment of a mangrove nursery in Barangay Molugan.
The project aimed to propagate mangrove seedlings for use by the 15-member local government units belonging to the MBDA for future planting. Barangay Molugan is a pawikan nesting site.
Carsten Evers, SPI plant manager, took note of the importance of Macajar Bay as fishing ground and industrial hub in northern Mindanao. Evers turned over the SPI donation on Tuesday. He said environmental protection is necessary amid industrialization. “As we pursue economic development, also goes our responsibility in preserving our natural surroundings.” Col. Francisco Pabayo, representing Maj. Gen. Oscar Lactao, commanding general of the 4ID, said the collective efforts in mangrove growing is a positive step toward securing and preserving the wetlands for the future generation. “[It is] a sensible thing to do where we, in the present generation, are accountable,” he said.
Pabayo recalled that February 2 is the observance of World’s Wetland Day as proclaimed by Ramsar Convention of 1971 in Iran.
He said the Convention underscored the importance of the wetlands, which support ecological functions and provide valuable elements—water and fish, support agriculture, purify water and treat waste, protection from floods and storms—for human survival.
They also serve as natural sponge against floods and protects coastlines. Pabayo said the 4ID has been steadfast in looking after the environment and continues its undertakings, including mangrove growing, in it’s area of responsibility.
“We failed to recognize the value of our wetlands until the huge crocodile ‘Lolong’ was captured and later died. The tragic fate of Lolong dramatizes the country’s wetland,” Pabayo said. MBDA is a cooperation among 15 coastal towns in Misamis Oriental and two cities, Cagayan de Oro and El Salvador. They agreed to collaborate and pool their resources to ensure the sustainable development of the Macajalar Bay.
The alliance establishes and sets in motion a bay-wide Integrated Coastal Management program.
MBDA has grown and maintained about more than a hundred hectares of mangrove trees in the different sites in the province while conserving the sea grass areas and does a continuing beach rehabilitation.
Image credits: Butch D. Enerio