• September 2022

    The new employee, Mr. Water Buffalo, is a tremendous transport aid.

Once again, a carabao (water buffalo) is our cover model. This leisurely worker pulls even fully loaded transport carts seemingly effortlessly. But the animals are also affected by the heat that prevailed during the four days in which we planted 42,858 mangroves. By midday on Wednesday, it was so unbearably hot that we unanimously decided to stop planting. We were all just tired and exhausted, probably also because there was no wind, which is really rare at the sea. On Saturday, when all the work was done, the cooling rain came.
The days we plant are not boring, although the work is repetitive. We usually have lunch together and then relax in the shade for an hour. The students measure and take pictures, our forester controls the plantings and dictates where the new seedlings should grow. The types of seedlings and the right mix is determined by the Regional Integrated Costal Resource Management Center of the University in Mati. Professor Lea Jimenez then instructs the students on what to look for when planting.
If we can combine the existing mangrove stands with our reforestation, our concept works. We try to plant in strips, especially when we go out to sea, to minimise losses even from higher waves, but we can’t do it without losses. It is also the case that not every seedling grows. Nature is not a factory. When the pioneer mangroves are securely anchored, we plant the next row.

Mangrove booklet

We also like to plant for companies. Our task is to plant as many mangroves as quickly as possible in order to bind large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere in the medium term.

We also like to plant for companies. Our task is to plant as many mangroves as quickly as possible in order to bind large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere in the medium term.

This inserted branch of a tree is a boundary pole for our planters. We always have to leave strips free to allow the fishermen to land their boats.

The areas that are still available to us are enormous. We are already looking forward to the next action.

Professor Lea Jimenez led the Mangrove Management and Development Plan (MMDP) seminar in the university with 16 selected participants.

Boris Herrmann looks on calmly as the participants prefer the Mama Earth school chairs made from collected marine waste instead of the plastic chairs from the university.

At the moment we “feed” three nurseries with seedlings: Guang Guang, Badas and San Isidro, so that we always have access to seedlings. In the third week of September, we had a seminar at the university in Mati to better coordinate
our cooperation with the authorities. On the evening of the third day, the 16 participants then compiled a work list until 2027, which we now have to fill with life.

As we all know, we fish plastic out of the sea. Unfortunately, it is not foreseeable that the plastic waste will become less. Almost like a prayer mill, we rail against the use of single-use plastic. The next wave is already in sight: Christmas. The shops in the shopping centres are slowly filling up with cheap plastic toys with a short shelf life. We have discovered cute toys made of bamboo, manufactured in the Philippines, and would like to ask you if you would be willing to donate toys, which are rare because many parents will probably not have money for presents this year due to the enormous price increases for living. Unfortunately, there are no toys for girls yet, but negotiations are ongoing. We are already so crazy that we are thinking of bringing this appealing toy to Europe, but we currently have many other building sites that need to be worked through first. If any toy retailers are reading this work report, please contact us.

We would then bring the toys to the villages before Christmas together with the books we distribute every year. Each child would receive a toy. The photo on the left shows three toys that cost 24 Euro as a set, but also make three
children happy. The photo on the right shows a tractor with trailer which costs 10 Euro. Simply write us an e-mail at: info@mama-earth.de

Three vehicles set 24 Euro for three children.

Tractor with trailer 10 Euro.

Questions about the topic? Ask them to us!