Bayer Crop Science adopts mangrove area in General Santos

Bayer Crop Science has adopted a degraded mangrove coastal area in Buayan, General Santos City, as part of its efforts to help sustain the country’s biodiversity.

It was converted to a Rhizophora farm by Bayer Crop Science under the city’s “Adopt a Coastal Special Protection Area” initiative led by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The program mainly aims aim to help sustain biodiversity, protect the community from storm surges, and generate livelihood and income for residents in Buayan.

An initial 200 seedlings of the mangrove variety Rhizophora mucronata (loop-root mangrove, red mangrove, or Asiatic mangrove) have been planted in the mangrove area by Bayer so far.

“It will generate income for the community from the seedlings that they’re able to grow. We will encourage them to maintain the transplanted seedlings in a portion of the coastal area.

General Santos City’s environment and natural resources have been under threat from various environmental issues and problems from deforestation and conversion of forestlands, degradation of its rivers and coastal waters and resources from erosion, pollution and anthropogenic activities, climate change, among others.

Mangroves are the first line of defense for coastal communities. They stabilize shorelines by slowing erosion and provide natural barriers protecting coastal communities,” said Richard Bangoy, Bayer Crop Science regional field technical lead for the Philippines and Indonesia.

Besides helping prevent coastal erosion, its timber may be used for firewood, the construction of buildings, and making fish traps.

The fruits can be cooked and eaten or the juice extracted to make wine, and the young shoots can be eaten as a vegetable. The bark is used in tanning and dye can be extracted from both bark and leaves. Various parts of the plant are also used in folk medicine.

Through the last eight years, Bayer has been supporting different environmental projects including bamboo planting along the riverbanks of Barangay Tinagakan, General Santos City.

SOURCE: Manila Times