Mangrove-planting campaign declared success

HUNDREDS OF volunteers join the mangrove-planting campaign of the Quezon provincial government in Mauban, one site chosen for the campaign to restore mangrove forests in the province’s more than 1,000-km coastline. DELFIN T. MALLARI JR./INQUIRER SOUTHERN LUZON

LUCENA CITY—Quezon officials on Monday declared a mangrove tree-planting campaign of the provincial government as a success.

Gov. David Suarez said the campaign, dubbed Quezon’s 2 in 1, proved cynics wrong.

Officials have targeted 167 villages as planting sites, but the actual number reached 189 on June 30, the day at least 50,000 volunteers waded in mud to plant mangrove trees in different sites along the province’s 1,066-kilometer coastline.

Reports from 112 villages, or 60 percent of the total planting area, said at least 1.9 million mangrove propagules have been planted.

“Most planting sites surpassed their target numbers,” said Manny Calayag, community coordinator of the environment and natural resources office of Quezon.

The next task, said the governor, is to nurture the propagules.

Residents and officials of villages where the propagules were planted pledged to take care of the mangroves.

The provincial government is offering cash incentives to villages with the most growing mangroves, said Suarez.

Volunteers at the campaign filled their Facebook pages with pictures and comments on their participation.

The governor said he had talked with government employees who promised to return to the planting sites to check on the propagules.

Mangroves are key flood-prevention natural structures. Suarez said one of the achievements of the Quezon’s 2 in 1 campaign was to raise the awareness of residents of the province on the need to protect the environment.