Maiden’s dream turns islet into mangrove park.

By Jerome Balinton
Inquirer Southern Luzon

CALATAGAN, Batangas—It started as a young woman’s dream of a pristine coastline with lush mangrove trees in her town.

The dream of youth leader Hannah Esguerra has become reality and a source of pride for the residents of Calatagan, who are now fiercely protective of their mangrove forest.

It had never occurred to many of the town’s residents that mangroves could not only shield them from natural disasters but also give them additional income.

But through the rehabilitation effort initiated by Esguerra in 2009 and now funded by Conservation International (CI) –Philippines, a mangrove park is thriving in “Ang Pulo,” a tiny islet 30 minutes by boat from the mainland. And a mangrove belt along Calatagan’s coastal area now serves as the community’s natural defense from storm surges.

CI-Philippines came to Calatagan late in 2009. By then Esguerra’s mangrove rehabilitation effort had been underway in Barangay Quilitisan, the takeoff point to Ang Pulo.

Esguerra chaired the local Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) in 2007-2010. Then 18, she lobbied the barangay council to make Ang Pulo an ecological park.

The uninhabited 7.5-hectare islet was declared “Ang Pulo Mangrove Conservation Park” in December 2009.

Read full article @ newsinfo.inquirer.net

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