FEATURE
Critically endangered
mangroves still here
On a flat earthen pot, the deadwood’s rotting texture jutting out from a mossy mound, lends to an insane twist that betray the age and character of the windswept slanting bantigue, a miniature of what could be a tree sucking every ounce of life from a cliff overlooking a troubled sea, had it been left out clinging to a cliff looking out to brace for another tempest.
Now, it is safely the main focus on the bonsai exhibit.
But did you know that before it occupied that earthen pot now made a focal point in a Japanese inspired interior, that bantigue or Pemphis acidula could still be taunting decades of wear, storm winds lashing and twisting its trunk and branches trying its mighty best to uproot it from its perch?
The insolence to keep its stubborn grip on the rockface, has shaped its gnarled trunk, twisted branches and dark green thick leaves making it a perfect material for the living art.
Bantigue, which is still found in cliffs’ crevices and rocky outcrops in Bohol coasts, is in fact a true mangrove, those plants that can thrive on salty environments and have been acclaimed as one of nature’s most efficient at capturing carbon and other greenhouse gases.
Said to be able to capture carbon by absorption five times better that terrestrial trees, mangroves keep these carbon dioxides from getting released into the atmosphere, hastening climate change.
In the Philippines, other than acting as the earth’s most efficient air purifiers, mangroves have proven to be the coastal communities’ toughest defences against storm surges, storm-spawned waves and hurricanes.
However, despite its critical roles in maintaining a balanced environment, environment authorities report massive mangrove areas devastation, usually driven by natural forces and mostly by human activities. And for the acidula, illegal bonsai enthusiasts.
Sadly too, bantigui, considered perfect material for bonsai is now considered endangered mangrove species, like Kandelia candel (which is a kind of tungog) which again, is critically endangered.
So are tangal and malatangal (tungog).
Capable of producing tannins from its bark, these kind of tungog mangroves have been used to dye leather, or provide the commercial tans for anything from belts to shoes. And it is food-grade.
Tungog, right. That which lends the color and the raspy bitter taste to your favorite tuba.
Bark from this kinds of mangrove is often taken, dried and then sliced into thin strips so you can have your raspy tuba sinup-ak or pounded into the tuba, and you have binukbok-tungog steeping the tuba with its character.
As mangrove species to like to clump in areas where the sea water reaches, be in neap tide or the spring tide, authorities say that mangroves with brace roots like pagatpat, bungalon, piapi, api-api and bakhaws are ideally in the areas with constant water even in the lowest of tides.
These too are the ideal species for erosion control, surge protection and strong winds, explains Bohol Provincial Environment and Management Office Coastal Resource Management Division chief Maria Villa Pelindingue, at the Kapihan sa PIA.
That is why the BPEMO is now enforcing these brace-rooted mangroves to be planted on areas exposed to the wind and crashing surf.
Towards the middle parts where the high tides normally reach are the busains, pototans, langarai, sagingsaging, tinduktindukan, and the tangal and malatangal.
Some groups volunteering for mangrove planting unknowingly use these mangroves species in exposed areas, where the winds and waves easily uproot them.
In the areas of the shore only reached by sea water during spring tides or the highest tides, buta-buta and nilad followed by the associated species like dungon-late, nino, lambayong, dampol and tiwi thrive.
While in 2019, a mangrove assessment team was able to document 33 to 34 species of true mangroves in Bohol, a team from the BPEMO now is currently carrying out mangrove assessment in areas across Bohol to see if the count still holds weight, according to Pelindingue, over at the Kapihan sa PIA.
The team, with former DENR mangrove expert Dr. Calixto Yao, are also trying to find out if the DENR’s list of critically endangered to vulnerable mangroves can still be seen here, considering that Bohol is one of the country’s most mangrove-diverse provinces.
According to the DENR, true mangrove Kandelia candel is now critically endangered, and people hope it could still be in Bohol.
Camptostenom philippinense (gapas-gapas) on the other hand, is endangered, and so is Pemphis Acidula (bantigue) which is considered vulnerable.
According to Pelindingue, Yao and his team from BPEMO were excited when they still found gapasgapas along the Abatan River system. Over in Cabilao, and Sandingan, bantigue used to thrive, but the assessment team has not reached there yet.
Tangal or tungog si similarly getting near extinction because harvesting the bark can kill the tree, while continued gathering of bantigui for bonsai has proved to be threatening the species too.
With this, BPEMO, Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Offices and the Municipal Agriculture Offices now know better that interest groups and volunteers who wish to plant mangroves now know which kinds are needed in which places to plant.
Please do coordinate with your local MAO or MENROs for coastal towns to get technical help in inspecting proposed planting sites, so they too can pick which species should be planted where and plan out the necessary intervention and protection these species can give to communities.
In Bohol, mangrove nurseries are now starting to sprout, all to the goal of keeping and taking care of mangrove areas, as well as reclaiming those patches that are now abandoned fish ponds, BPEMO said. (PIAbohol)
FROM THIS, TO THIS. Due to its gnarled, twisted trunks and tiny leaves, bantigue, which is a true mangrove native to the Philippines, with its dramatic ash-grey to brown deadwood and dense foliage pads make it a favorite for bonsai artists. This is also what is keeping the bantigue at risk of extinction. (PIABohol/stock.adobe.com)
MANGROVE TO SINUP-AK OR BINUKBOK TUNGOG. Bark is taken from tangal, chopped finely or pounded fine to use its tannin to flavour and color tuba. The amount of tannin used determines the color and taste of tuba, from deep reddish to orangey. This is another reason for the threatening extinction of mangroves. (PIAbohol/Kinaiya kang Sibalom/Photo sikwate)
BRACE ROOTS. A nasty tangle of mangrove roots may impede human movement when gleaning for seashells, but the same prop-root system anchors the plant efficiently on the water keeping erosion in control and surviving better against strong winds, waves and reversing currents. (PIABohol)
