The Forestry Development Center (FDC) concluded its series, “Turning the Tide: Why Mangroves Matter” with its fourth and final episode entitled, “Science-Based Mangrove Management” on September 23, 2022 as part of the Forest Policy e-Talks: FDC Webinar Series.
National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) Academician, Dr. Jurgenne Primavera and Dr. Severino Salmo III, Associate Professor of UP Diliman served as resource persons of the webinar.
In her opening remarks, CFNR Associate Dean Analyn L. Codilan said that the health and functions of the mangrove ecosystem must be ensured because “our lives are connected to this neglected ecosystem.” Thus, valuable information on mangrove management must be disseminated and “passed on to our future generation.”
In her presentation on Issues and Challenges in Mangrove Rehabilitation and Conservation in the Philippines, Dr. Primavera discussed how typhoons in the Philippines are “deadly” despite existing greenbelt or buffer zone regulations. Typhoon Yolanda, reported as most destructive in the country, caused 6,300 deaths and PHP 95.5 billion worth of damages due to storm surge.
Dr. Primavera emphasized the need for science communication so more will be knowledgeable in practicing science-based mangrove management and put up green belts in their cities or provinces.
Dr. Salmo presented the Draft Philippine Mangrove Roadmap 2020-2030: Implications on Mangrove Conservation and Restoration, in which he recommended points for policy linkage such as coming up with open access data set. Through this, mangrove reporting will be institutionalized for better monitoring of mangrove conservation and restoration programs.
Dr. Salmo concluded his presentation with a reminder to not only focus on current trends in mangrove programs but to also look into the past mistakes. “I hope all of us will realize that when we turn the tide, it will be for a good reason. Never forget,” Dr. Salmo said.
In his closing remarks, FDC Director, Dr. Dixon Gevaña thanked the speakers and emphasized that “mangrove restoration and conservation is the way forward but do it in the right and scientific way.”
There were 490 participants in the zoom webinar while there were up to 112 participants who watched the facebook livestream. The full webinar recording may be viewed through FDC’s youtube channel -- https://bit.ly/MangrovesWebinar4 (MKMBuot)