28 September 2019, Hagonoy, Bulacan.  Another step towards the goal of a greener Hagonoy has been taken in September 2019 when One Child, One Tree planted 500 Mangroves in the mangrove sanctuary in Tibaguin.

Known to be a municipality that is prone to floods, typhoons, and high tides affecting people’s living condition and livelihood, One Child One Tree continues its effort in planting mangroves. Natalia Sali, One Child One Tree founder is also Fostering Education & Environment for Development (FEED) Ambassador. FEED and One child One Tree share the same goal of preserving the environment and promoting the protection of the Philippine’s biodiversity.

A family friend of the family, Kevin Fuster who sponsored the planting of 500 fully-grown mangroves, along with 11 volunteers from all ages did not mind the 40-minute boat ride and the extreme heat of the sun. Mr. Vic Cruz, president of the Hagonoy Fish Farmers Cooperative who also runs a mangrove nursery supplied the mangroves and helped in the planting. Mr. Cruz’ organization also built a barricade around the mangrove area to protect them from surge of high tide and water lilies. One Child One Tree and Mr. Cruz plans to raise funds to strengthen the fence around the area. The group was greeted by the barangay chairperson Mr. Willy Suico who told the group of his support and that he believes it is beneficial to community residents.

The volunteers ensured that the mangrove seedlings were planted deep into the soil to avoid the risk of the seedlings being uprooted by the strong waves. In addition to planting new mangroves, they also re-planted those which had been uprooted ad washed away by the tide. For them, every single mangrove is important.

We know that it will take thousands of mangroves to populate the entire sanctuary but we believe that a continuous and dedicated effort to plant will bring us closer to achieving a greener Hagonoy.

The Sali Family also recently won the latest Jollibee Family Values Awards last September, a truly appropriate acknowledgment of their amazing support of the environment! Here they are pictured with FEED Founders Jacob & Ofelia Bakker celebrating!

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About One Child, One Tree

One Child, One Tree advocates and partners will continue seeking sustainable solutions, starting with the most critical needs, i.e. mangrove and other coastal species protection against flooding and saline intrusion, whilst ensuring the strengthening of existing as well as alternative livelihood sources (i.e. fruit, vegetable bearing crops, and sustainable fisheries) to optimise water and food security for the residents of Hagonoy.

FEED encourages this type of tree planting program that directly engages children, also delivers a hands on learning opportunity to get youth involved in the environment and conservation of our natural resources. Recent scientific studies even suggest that students are better able to concentrate, finish tasks and follow directions after being in natural settings.  Through  experiential learning, they are able to see, touch and feel  the structure of the trees, learn how to care for them and watch them grow. Teachers used the planting process to share the various benefits trees provide and it is an intimate and profound way of establishing Living Legacies early on in life.

*Lessons from the Past: Climate Change Takes its Toll in Bulacan

Dino Balabo – February 1, 2011. “HAGONOY, Bulacan , Philippines – Climate change has taken its toll on two coastal villages of this town along the Manila Bay hampering livelihood and food production while threatening to wash away the villages into the sea.

This is due to the destruction of at least 100 hectares of municipal fishpond or propius fronting the Manila Bay.

The said fishponds served as a buffer for the villages of Pugad and Tibaguin here for decades, but declined in management, left it to the waves during rainy season that wiped out the rock and soil dike making it not part of the sea.

“Time and weather has changed this place,” rued Alfredo Lunes in the vernacular, while piloting his motorboat toward a dead tree that remains standing on the submerged dike of the damaged municipal fishpond.  A village councilman of Pugad, the 42-year-old Lunes who is fondly called “Doy” by his friends told The STAR, aside from the lone dead tree beside another which was felled by the waves, nothing is left of the fishpond dike aside from the remains of concrete check gates that stick out of the water during low tide.

The check gates which used to control inflow and outflow of water is of no use now except for being home for growing oysters and mussels.

Doy said that the dikes of the municipal fishponds served as buffer of their village from strong waves during typhoon season.

But the dike began to deteriorate nine years ago as one of the last propietario of the municipal fishpond cut mangroves and other coastal trees that grew on the dike for decades.

It was followed by the absence of a new propietario, as no one dared to rent the propius from the municipal government.

With the fishpond dike gone, Barangays Pugad and Tibaguin were left to the mercy of the waves that penetrated even the center of the villages, especially during high tide. “The waves are so powerful, some houses fronting the Manila Bay were literally uprooted,” Doy said.

This situation, he said, forced many residents to move to their relatives in mainland Hagonoy during typhoon season. But threats to human lives and properties are not the only impacts of climate change in coastal communities.

Ramon Atienza Jr., the chief of Barangay Pugad noted that even their livelihood is at stake. “The sea appeared to be running out of fish,” he said in Tagalog. In the past, Atienza said residents of coastal villages of Bulacan including Pugad and Tibaguin were living in relative affluence due to daily generous catch from the sea. “They said it’s a combination of over fishing, pollution, climate change, but we think that its more of the latter,” he said.

Read more at: http://beta.philstar.com/nation/2011/02/01/652880/climate-change-takes-its-toll-bulacan#tkRTf1FFEwH1GEpR.99

This article is a joint piece co-authored by and with direct quotes from Natalia Sali, Founder/Initiator of the ONE CHILD, ONE TREE Partnership with FEED.

• About “One Child, One Tree”: Contact Natalia Sali by email natsali2001@yahoo.com
• About Organising your Tree-Planting Initiative: info@feed.org.ph or call/text+63 (0)917 552 4722 (FEED Inc.)

© Fostering Education & Environment for Development, Inc.