A Fascinating EcoTour Near Our Sister City in the Philippines

By Nodelyn Smith

As Kermit the frog famously said - ‘It isn’t easy being ‘green.’’This is one of the most important lessons I learned from our pilot EcoTour to the Philippines, a tour intended to explore the creation of a new program to be offerred to students or adults interested in seeing firsthand how coastal communities near and surrounding our sister city of Palo, Leyte, Philippines, deal with their environmental issues. From climate change, to overfishing, to habitat destruction from severe climate events and people. I learned It takes bravery, determination, and the inclusion of the entire community to save the environment. For success, it is necessary to include fishermen in sustainable fishing practices, to educate villagers on the benefits of the new trees being  planted nearby, and to constantly remind people everyday about the importance of the environment and of sustainable practices.

From Feb 13-17, seven members of Neighbors Abroad including 2 teachers, visited 4 different ecosystems: mangroves, rainforests, natural growth forest, and marine protected areas in Leyte and Eastern Samar Provinces in the Philippines. Our group was led by Marge de la Cruz, a retired professor of Biology from the University of the Philippines, and founder and executive director for the Guiuan Development Foundation (GDFI). Neighbors Abroad partnered with GDFI to pilot this program.  

The first location we visited was 70 miles west of Palo, at a town called Palompon, which is home to the Tabuk Marine Park and Wildlife SanctuaryThe park contains 72 hectares of mangrove forest. The town of Palompon was spared more severe devastation from Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013 because of the town’s plentiful mangroves growing near the shoreline that behaved like a first line of defense against Haiyan’s powerful storm surge.  We were met by the Municipal Environmental Resource Officer (MENRO), Raoul Bacalla, who told us about the environmental policies in place in Palompon. To view the mangroves, we took a 10 minute boat ride to a lighthouse that marked the beginning of a long elevated bamboo walkway that meandered through the shallow waters surrounding the mangroves. The bamboo walkway was narrow and measured only about 3’ wide with very long poles of sturdy bamboo laid in the direction of the path instead of shorter cuts across the path, so you had to walk pigeon toed or like a ballerina with your feet pointing sideways across multiple bamboo in order to comfortably walk. The path through the mangroves was taken at a leisurely pace and signs of the different types of mangroves could be easily read. The mangroves were tagged with their species Sonneratia, Rhizophora, Avicennia, and many more. Sonneratia is the hardy one that can withstand powerful typhoons and ideally should be planted closest to the water. Rhizophora is the one most commonly planted for mangrove restoration, not because it is hardy, but because it is the easiest to propagate. Unfortunately, the rhizophora can be so severely damaged in a strong typhoon that they would need to be replanted completely.

The wildlife sanctuary was the home of large fruit bats called ‘flying foxes’ that lived in the branches of the mangroves and are pollinators to their flowers.  It was wonderful and a bit eery to see these majestic creatures during the day in their natural habitats.  The flying foxes are nocturnal but were awakened from their rest by a previous boat that disturbed their sleep and sent them circling over the mangroves reminiscent of a swirling flock of birds. We also took a night safari by boat and saw fish jumping and skipping across the water when illuminated by flashlight.  Our guide would sometimes shine the light too close to the side of our boat in an effort to get a fish to jump into our boat, at the skittish delight of those on board. 

The Palompon municipality had to implement strict measures to sustain the numbers of danggit, a small silver fish that were once plentiful in the waters surrounding Palompon. The danggit fish is a Philippine delicacy and most popularly prepared fried. The danggit is split in half and butterflied, the bones removed, and the fish dried.  The fishermen in Palompon were overfishing for danggit and it’s fish population decreased. In order to allow the danggit to mature and their eggs to hatch, Palompon instituted a total ban on fishing for danggit during their peak spawning season on the 3rd, 4th, 5th days after the full moon in Feb, Mar, and April. The Palompon municipality hired security to police the fisherman to make sure that no one was illegally fishing and ignoring the ban. When the fishermen realized their fish populations increased, the fishermen and the community decided to come together to enforce the ban themselves. This is called the ‘Adlaw sa danggit’, where 20 people consisting of members of the community, fishermen, and tourists, go out on boats at night during these peak spawning days to ensure that the traps are open and no fish are being caught. No need for outside security and policing. This is an example of integrated community based coastal resource management.  

Palompon was also one of the first municipalities to institute carrying capacities for their most popular tourist sites. The beautiful island of Kalanggaman, just 20 mins by boat from the shores of Palompon, saw many tourists producing too much garbage and waste for a small island to sustain. Contrary to popular thinking back in 2011, Palompon began to limit the number of tourists each day on the island, thereby keeping the environment and surrounding waters cleaner. The practice of instituting carrying capacities has since spread and has become a key method to manage and protect sensitive environments around the world. 

The following morning as we were looking upon the Visayan Sea from our hotel, Prof. Marge noticed a fisherman on the beach, beside his boat, with an illegal fishing net. A net too fine that it would catch too small, or too young a fish. Prof. Marge grabbed her camera and approached the fisherman to have a discussion with him about his net. Prof. Marge showed that one must always be diligent in protecting the environment even if it means speaking to one fisherman at a time who may or may not know that the net he is using was illegal.  

The second EcoSystem we visited was the rainforest in Ormoc, where we met Visayas State University (VSU) Prof. Pacencia Milan. Prof. Milan promoted replanting native species in the rainforest instead of exotic non-native tree species which was done in the past. Prof. Milan believed in restoring the original vegetation of the rainforest ecosystem. She also advocated for farmers to plant diverse native species together along with native fruit trees to promote biodiversity and also so farmers could earn supplemental income from selling the fruit. One of the most interesting native tree species was the aquilaria tree which, when infested with a type of mold, excretes internally a resin that creates a dark and very fragrant heartwood called agarwood, which is valuable around the world, especially in the middle east for incense, perfumes, and cosmetics. We were told the cost of 1 kg of this heartwood is 500,000 PH pesos equivalent to $10K. One cannot tell from the trees’ appearance that this precious agarwood exists inside, so tree poachers illegally and indescriminately cut down these trees sometimes to their roots, affecting the health of nearby trees like the native lawaan tree. Tree poachers are a problem for the farmers and land owners.  We visited VSU and saw pallets of native tree seedlings needed for rain forestation. VSU is also studying injecting the small tree saplings with a substance to mimic an infestation in an effort to coax the tree into producing the resin and developing the agarwood.  Prof. Milan authored a book on Rainforestation as well as created a booklet for farmers called Rainforestation Farming - A Farmer’s guide to sustainable forest biodiversity management. An easy to understand guidebook for farmers to implement biodiversity on their lands.  ​

The third ecosystem we visited was the Lawaan forest in the province of Eastern Samar, where we hiked the trail to the Amandaraga Waterfalls. Prof. Marge had taken many of her students on these trails to show the valuable watershed, and one of the 4 waterfalls within it. GDFI recently added  bamboo handrails to guide hikers to the waterfalls, creating a more accessible trail where visitors can enjoy nature and learn about the natural growth forest. We sat in the natural rock formations at the foot of the falls that made perfect little ‘seats’ for us  with the water swirling around us. We gathered around Prof. Marge as she told us about the area. The guides brought us lunch of fish, rice, and fruit that was served on just picked banana leaves. We ate lunch while listening to the sound of the rushing water while admiring the majesty of the Amandaraga waterfall and the natural forest surrounding us.

​Afterwards, we went to a nearby site to plant some new trees on a plot of land that was overseen by GDFI. A woman in the village expressed some concern over the tree planting She was afraid the trees would grow too big and fall on her home. She was also afraid the trees roots would damage the paved road nearby. The village had called in the barangay captain to listen and settle the dispute. I have never witnessed a more interesting exchange between an environmentalist and the community. As more villagers gathered, Prof. Marge listened to their concerns and explained to them the benefits of the trees. The new trees were far enough away from their homes and their roots do not spread in a way that would damage the road. She explained that the trees would beautify the space as well as provide needed shade, with nice flowers that also had a medicinal value. Eventually, everyone was smiling and happy. One man from the village even requested trees to be planted on his 3 hectares of land nearby. Environmentalists must not only use science, but also must listen to the concerns of the community and then engage with them and educate them on the benefits of environmental and sustainable practices, so that they become active participants.  

The fourth ecosystem we visited was the Marine Protected Areas around Maliwaliw Island, near the town of Guiuan. In 2013, SuperTyphoon Haiyan made landfall in Guiuan, destroying the homes on Maliwaliw and most of the surrounding area. GDFI helped to create a resettlement site for 50 families away from the shoreline, on higher ground. Maliwaliw is a 1 hour boatride from Guiuan. When we arrived, we saw the community working together to dry and process the danggit fish that had just been caught that morning. Rows and rows of deboned danggit lay on elevated nets stretched tight on poles, drying in the sun and breeze. We walked through the resettlement village and saw a church, a school, houses, and a community center where the community prepared a lunch for us of fried fish, conch, eggplant frittata, mantis shrimp, and sea snails that had their conic shell removed and mixed with basil giving the dish a beautiful blue/green color. I’ve never had or seen mantis shrimp before but was told it was called mantis shrimp because it had a long flat leggy body and tiny sharp claws that made it look like a preying mantis. The village folk claimed it was better than lobster. They were right because it was absolutely delicious. We engaged with the community and they expressed immense appreciation to Prof. Marge and GDFI for helping them resettle and become more resilient to future typhoons. 

We were shown some sea cucumbers that were growing in the sea grasses around Maliwaliw in the Binabasalan Marine Sanctuary created by GDFI in partnership with the community. These sea cucumbers were once plentiful but almost all gone due to overharvesting. GDFI worked with the community and educated them in a sustainable model whereby the sea cucumbers were only harvested when they grew over 600 grams. This allowed the young sea cucumbers to reach adulthood and reproduce, ensuring the sustainability of the sea cucumber population. Soon, the sea cucumber populations rebounded and other species of sea cucumbers appeared in the MPAs.

We visited another marine protected area where the coral was previously destroyed by dynamite fishing. We snorkeled here to view the giant clams and coral that were reintroduced decades ago by GDFI. The giant clams were now over 3’ in length and new coral was seen surrounding them. This was proof that coastal areas can recover from devastation.

On our final evening, GDFI gave us a despedida ‘farewell’ party. What is a farewell party in the Philippines without Karaoke? We sang and danced the evening with the new friends we met on this trip. A special thanks to our amazing and inspiring Prof. Marge. Also a big thanks to our driver, Marcial, from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) who kept us safe and entertained on our long drives with his eclectic music playlist of Beatles, Queen, and old 40s and 50s singers.  

I realized that saving the environment needs to be done from ground zero, at the grass roots level. The coastal communities of the Philippines are at greater risk of the effects of climate change, so it takes brave people working alongside an informed community to save their surrounding environment and in turn the livelihoods of the people that depend on it. This was aparent to everyone who came on the pilot Ecotour. Many thanks to Prof. Marge for guiding our tour, sharing her connections and scientific expertise, and for teaching us that even though it’s not easy to be an environmentalist, it is a job we must all do together to save our communities for the next generation.

​Author: Nodelyn Smith​