Definitely Cebu #15: Tour at Oboob Mangrove Garden (Eco-Park), Bantayan Island

_{This should have been posted two weeks ago, but I had to give way to Hive account@josejirafa's and then to Hive account@glecerioberto's post about Bantayan. If you're interested to read their take about the island, you can find them here:}

_{They have a very different approach in showcasing the beauty of Bantayan, but both packaged their post to highlight the natural beauty of the island. One showed the island through the perspective of a transient adventurer while the other showed his deep connection with the island, but both are a delight to read.}

Hello Hive!

In my last travel post under this series, I featured Bantayan Island with its stunning beaches. There's another tourist spot that we toured, but I was torn between adding it to the post or not. In the end, I decided to make it into a separate post. Anyway, here's the link of my post under this series.

I also made a separate post about our island hopping to Sillon Island or Virgin Island. It's part of our Bantayan Island trip, but I put under my Philippine Islands series. Find more about the island in the link below.

The reason why I decided to have this in a separate post is that I will be talking about mangroves. I have this deep fascination with mangroves as I have with corals. At first glance, they're just trees of almost the same height that are anchored in the muddy portion of a shallow sea, but at a closer look, you'll be able to see their significance in maintaining the balance of the ecosystem in a particular area. I wanted to highlight that in a post.

As an archipelago, The Philippines is the sixth country in the world with the longest coastline (Nag, 2018). This means we are blessed with marine resources and ecosystems and that includes mangrove forests that are usually located in tidal flats. According to an article by Gaia Discovery, deforestation as an issue in the Philippines is focused only on upland forests while those that are happening in lowland areas, especially mangrove forests, often goes under the radar (Tacio, 2012). Mangrove forest areas in the country are rapidly dwindling because, in the recent past, people often regarded mangroves as unimportant. Often, they're cut down as a source of firewood.

What really grinds my gears is when I hear in the news that mangrove areas are cut to pave way to establishments, just like what happened in Palawan recently where environmental officers were arrested by local police to prevent them from inspecting an area where mangroves are cut. The one was last year in Cavite where the whole mangrove island is allegedly levelled for a hotel and casino to rise up there. Before and after photos were circulating on social media about this issue.

As if those people didn't know about the role of mangroves in marine ecosystems. We are not only talking about natural habitat and breeding ground of marine life, but we are also talking about carbon sequestration, coastal protection, and erosion control.

Carbon sequestration is the process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide [USGS]. According to recent reports, mangrove forests can sequester carbon as much as four times than rain forests (Erickson-Davis, 2018). In coastal protection, mangroves act as storm barriers as they dissipate big waves during storm surges (del Valle et al, 2019). In erosion control, mangroves filter the sediments carried by the river and prevent those sediments from reaching the sea.

Mangrove reforestation initiatives deserve attention. While Bohol and Siquijor islands are leading the way in mangrove conservation, other areas in the Visayas are now slowly catching up. Bohol has successfully integrated mangrove area tours in their eco-tourism projects. I haven't tried it yet, but Bohol has firefly watching in mangrove forests. Siquijor is following with its massive mangrove tree planting project in the last decade. Mangrove eco-tourism has been a trend in recent years as evidenced by the increase in mangrove forest tours and walkways. One of those walkways is Oboob Mangrove Garden.

Oboob (or Obo-ob) Mangrove Garden/Eco-Park is located in Bantayan Island and is managed by OMAGIECA (Obo-ob Mangrove Garden Integrated Ecotourism and Conservation Association). So, the mangrove walkway is also called as OMAGIECA Mangrove Garden. With the aim of raising environmental awareness and responsible tourism along with the promotion of local tourist spots, the association maintains the 116-hectare nature preserve.

Oboob Mangrove Garden is slightly far from the town proper of Sta. Fe. I think it took us 30 minutes to reach the area via tricycle. There's an entrance fee of Php 50 at the registration area and information center. You can choose to tour the whole mangrove area via kayak or boat, but the best option is just to stroll around the walkways that are made of bamboo slats.

At the end of the main walkway from the entrance is the Omaciega Restaurant where you can have fresh plates of seafood at an affordable price. I must warn you though that the place offers very little shade from the sun. I was ready as most of my friends so forgive the outfits in the last photo below.

The place is still recovering from the devastation brought by Typhoon Haiyan. Mangrove planting efforts were ramped up as indicated by small mangrove seedlings which are in total contrast with the dead mangroves.

From Omagieca Restaurant, walkways lead to bamboo cottages and watchtowers where you can relax and enjoy the scenery. Much of the reviews say that there's not much to do in the mangrove area except be with nature. I agree with those reviews. As for me, you don't have to do anything once you're there except have that much-needed relaxation.

They say you can do fish feeding, but I don't really recommend that one. You're introducing a foreign food to the critters in the mangroves that might have an adverse impact on the delicate balance of the ecosystem below the water surface.

The Camp Sawi signage was transferred there from Kota Beach where it was originally placed for the Filipino movie of the same title. However, I won't show my photos because of my damn outfit. At least I didn't get a sunburn when we were there. 😂

Kim Ybañez

_{Welcome to Kim's small corner in Hive. He is a chemical engineer by profession, but a blogger by passion. He is a wanderlust and an adventure seeker. Join his quests as he visits secluded destinations, climbs mountains, tries new and exotic dishes, and explores his country (The Philippines) and the rest of the world even if he's still a poor corporate slave with tons of bills to pay and two siblings to support in college.}

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