Mangrove seedlings boost coastal program

MANILA, Philippines - More than a hundred environmental advocates planted some 4,500 mangrove seedlings at the Provincial Mangrove Nursery in the Bolinao farm foreshore area in Pangasinan last Thursday.

The activity, led by the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, further boosts Pangasinan’s coastal resource management program.

Participating in the activity were provincial government employees, students from the Bolinao School of Fisheries, members of the barangay council of Arnedo, Bolinao, Barangay Health Workers, members of the Pangasinan Federation of Non-Government Organizations and the Kaisahan ng mga Samahang Alay sa Kalikasan, an organization of farmers in Bolinao.

The activity is also aimed to encourage the involvement of local government units, students and non-government organizations in mangrove preservation as an essential undertaking in managing coastal resources and ultimately to mitigate the effects of climate change.

The newly-planted seedlings within the Bolinao Farm mangrove forest will replace those damaged during the various typhoons that recently hit Pangasinan.

The mangrove propagation is part of Gov. Amado Espino, Jr.’s advocacy to save and preserve the rivers and water systems of Pangasinan under the provincial government’s “Ilog Ko Bilayen Tan Aroen Ko program.”