Still the situation now: It looks almost unreal. The wind has blown over all the old mangroves. It could take centuries for this area to recover because the lack of trees means that seeds cannot grow.
Almost 100 percent of the mangroves we plant grow, because the conditions are ideal: no one comes here to fish or collect shellfish, especially since the mud sometimes reaches hip height.
The hospitality is overwhelming. Eating together is important in the Philippines. Everything that is caught on the doorstep is available.
After our boating accident, we decided to equip the boat crews responsible for monitoring the reforestation areas with life jackets.
Baganga has over 800 hectares of mangroves, which is a significant area considering that the total area of the province is 94,500 hectares. At least one-third of the mangrove stands urgently need to be reforested, while other areas only need to be partially planted with young plants to enable the mangroves to reproduce on their own. The chances are good that we can do a lot of good in this huge planting area.
The sinking of our patrol boat also had many positive effects. Not for the cameras and our GoPro, but subsequently for the Lucud Mangroves Rural Women’s Association. Despite its 60,000 inhabitants, Baganga is like a small village, as most people reside on the coast. News of the sinking spread quickly and reached official channels. Just three weeks later, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) responded. The Women’s Association will receive three new boats free of charge to prevent further disasters. Because we realized that many of our partners cannot swim and had difficulty escaping to safety in the mangroves, non-swimmers will now wear life jackets. Twenty have already been delivered. If more are needed, we will provide additional ones.
It is gratifying to see how many people are interested in restoring their habitat to a natural state. As the success of the plantings is visible, a momentum of its own has developed.
Plastic and driftwood are the enemies of our plantings. Plastic bags or scraps, as well as the remains of fishing nets that attach themselves to the seedlings, can tear the unrooted seedlings out of the sediment when the current is strong, posing a significant problem, especially in sandy soils. Unfortunately, plastic bags are still widely used in the Philippines, despite single-use plastic bags being banned in many markets. There is almost nothing that can be done about driftwood. It is disheartening to see even established mangroves being uprooted, but we must endure it.
We have to live with this too: a massive piece of driftwood has been washed far into the mangroves by the waves and has severely damaged at least 20 mangroves, which will never recover anymore.
In some places, fishing families prefer so-called backyard nurseries. Here, the seedlings are grown next to the house. This means short distances to the planting site and constant monitoring.
Our clever foresters may have found a way to make our plantations visible at low cost.
Another area of concern is the visibility of our plantations. Ideally, the planting locations would be visible from satellites that orbit the Earth constantly. This is possible, but expensive, as each satellite update must be paid for. This is reasonable, as launching satellites into orbit is not a minor expense.
Our foresters seem to have found a workaround. Perhaps we could connect with drone manufacturer DJI. Our Mati team (Ace and Bryan) is on it. It is then possible to set the drone flight according to the coordinates (on the left in the photo is the drone video, and on the right is the drone’s flight plan). The drone then flies obediently to these coordinates. Since the data is stored, the same coordinates will be flown again on the next flight. The video can then be zoomed in on to view the growth of the mangroves at regular intervals on the screen. We will continue to monitor this situation.
Further activities
In short: Our reforestation projects with the Bureau of Fire Protection in Mati are secured. Now it’s time to get started setting up the first tree nurseries. And there’s more great news. The organization rrreefs, which we referred to Professor Lea at the university, has already started printing the first building blocks for artificial reefs.
Our final meeting with the Bureau of Fire Protection for the reforestation of a ten-hectare area in Mati with many different endemic trees.
A look inside the university’s 3D printing chamber. Four printers produce bricks for the artificial reefs, which are fired after printing.
