CALABANGA, CAMARINES SUR (Oct 25, 2012) - Alarmed over reports of newly reforested mangroves being infested with undetermined species of worms that feed on vegetation, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, (DENR) sent a mangroves expert to inspect some 5-hectares of mangroves in the coastline of barangay Cagsao in this municipality.
After inspecting the area, DENR Mangrove expert Feliciano M. Laurico Jr. told mangrove care takers in the locality that the worms can easily be controlled by spraying the mangroves with a solution composed of water, ordinary soap and “siling-labuyo”.
According to Municipal disaster council chairman for Calabanga, Eduardo A. Severo, town Mayor Evelyn Yu was earlier alarmed after Cagsao village officials reported spread of infestation to other sites of the 21 hectare coastlines that were newly reforested with mangroves.
Severo said that Calabanga town currently has one of the largest mangrove reforested area, which provides a protected zone from sea surges and helps revive coastal marine life in the fishing villages of Cagsao, Sibobo, Punta Tarawal, Balatasan, Sabang.
Some 443,500 Mangrove propagules of the “Rhyzophora” variety were planted in this coastal localities in 2011.
Severo also said that in barangay Cagsao alone, which has the biggest mangrove reforested areas, a 10-hectare area was planted with 154,500 propagules in May until June this year by civic groups that included “Naga Doctors Association,” SMART Philippines and University of Nueva Caceres students.
A foreign non-government organization, CARE Netherlands, also took part in mangrove reforestation under the foreign funded CNDR program in recent years.
Calabanga Fisheries technologist Rose B. Intia said that with the mangrove reforestation in Calabanga, one among the localities along San Miguel Bay, some previously fish varieties, feared to have been extinct, have reappeared and some species of crabs and shrimps have repopulated the revived mangrove areas. (SONNY SALES)