Good day Hives, Hope you all have a great day, Ever heard of the silent Guardians of the Coast? No, it's not a superhero team (although they might deserve the title!). Mangroves are those incredible trees that line tropical and subtropical coastlines. They're not just there for show, though. These fascinating ecosystems are vital to the health of our planet.
Feeling a little inspired to lend a hand? Planting mangroves is a fantastic way to get involved in environmental conservation. Around noon I went to Alferez Beach Resort for our NSTP Mangrooves planting and clean-up drive.
When I arrived at the location I did expect that there were still few at the meet-up place since the exact time that we would be gathered was around 2 pm but our NSTP coordinator informed us if there was someone who might help him organise the said event.
Since I didn't have a lot of things to do at home I decided to be early on the location, I waited for a few minutes for our Coordinator after he arrived we immediately prepared the things that going to be used for mangroove planting.
First, we managed to tie the banana trunk to the bamboo stick prepared by our coordinator, this bamboo stick is used to stabilise the new mangroves when it’s high tide, so the mangrove plant won’t be washed away.
After that, we walked to the mangroves area, where we going to plant the mangroves while waiting for others me and my friends decided to find some baby crabs. I did have a great time finding these baby crabs.
Then the ENRO coordinator called us to get the mangrove seedlings inside the mangrove and I was amazed because I saw a community inside the mangroves I was a bit scared what if the water got high or typhoon did the water get into their houses?
After we get the mangrove seedling one of the City of Naga ENRO stands for Environment and Natural Resources Office which is responsible for the sustainable development, utilization and management of our natural resources and maintenance of ecological balance within the province he gives us a little background about mangrove and how we going to plant the mangrove.
According to Wikipedia (thanks, Wikipedia), mangroves are various types of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics. Mangroves have many benefits, one of them is for preventing the land (beach) from abrasion.
Let me tell you something about planting mangroves. The best time for planting mangroves is when it is low tide so that you can dig deeper you can check on your calendar which time is the low tide, I know it’s a little hard for us to plant that time since the water is beginning to get high. So next time if you planning to plant mangroves be at low tide so it’s easier for you to plant it.
When you are going through all those objects on the way to the planting site, wear sandals because most of the objects are sharp and could scratch your foot. When you arrive at the site, take off your sandals because if not, your sandals will be stuck in the mud or get lost. So it’s best to just take them off and put them somewhere that has not much water and wouldn’t wash it away. Another way is to wear rubber boots or tie your sandals on your feet with ropes tightly.
Plant the mangrove trees 1 meter to 1.5 meters away from each other so they can grow freely. Then dig the mud till about 20 cm deep. After you finish digging, take off the plastic polybag (used as a pot) slowly so the roots won’t be destroyed. Plant the mangrove on the hole that you have just dug cover it with mud and stick a wooden pole beside it then tie it together so when it’s high tide, the mangrove plant won’t be washed away.
There I go! I've got a mangrove plant, It sounds easy but trust me… It’s not. But the best thing is that I have done something good for this lovely planet.
After that, I immediately washed my boots since it covered in mud and then we took a group photo for our documentation
So while we were walking back to the Alferez Beach Resort we also pick some trash that had been thrown away by our fellow people on the ocean, but most trash that we picked was a baby diaper, plastic and also we picked some used clothes and slippers that was the reason why some sea creatures died because of water pollution thanks to mangroves that helps clean our ocean to lessen the water pollution.
Let's be disciplined on our trash small trash can destroy our ecosystem, small actions can make a big difference in our ecosystem,
Let's protect our environment let's unite for a better world.