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FPE Conducts Successful Mangrove Rehabilitation and Management Training

Posted on March 25, 2014

The participants of the training course at the site of their field work modules in Panay Island. (FPE file photo)

FPE recently concluded a capacity-building training course designed to equip participating representatives of people's organizations (POs) and local government units (LGUs) from seven municipalities in Eastern Samar. The event, carried out as part of the Foundation's Post-Yolanda Environmental Rehabilitation Project, was held last March 10-14, 2014 in Panay Island.

A member of the Zoological Society of London-Philippines (ZSL) demonstrates the planting of a mangrove seedling. (FPE file photo)

Working in collaboration with the Philippine Tropical Forest Conservation Foundation (PTFCF), Guiuan Development Foundation, Inc. (GDFI), Environmental Leadership Training Initiative (ELTI), Zoological Society of London-Philippines (ZSL), Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC), and leading mangroves scientist, Dr. Jurgenne Primavera, FPE brought the participating stakeholder representatives to an off-site location to provide an opportunity to learn and engage fully in the training sessions. The location also provided ample opportunities for the participants to interact with other LGUs and communities involved in successful management initiatives on man-made mangrove plantations. 

Ms. Raffi Domingo (leftmost), coordinator for FPE's Post-Yolanda Environmental Rehabilitation Project, addresses the crowd at the start of the training course. (FPE file photo)

Through the five-day course, FPE and its partners imparted technical knowledge and skills to identify and characterize mangrove species, the role of communities in mangrove rehabilitation, and selecting the appropriate species for planting through a combination of lectures and field work.

Dr. Jurgenne Primavera, one of the country's foremost experts on mangroves, shared invaluable knowledge on the nature and value of mangrove ecosystems. (FPE file photo)

The PO and LGU representatives invited to participate in the training hailed from the municipalities of Lawaan, Balangiga, Giporlos, Quinapondan, Salcedo, Mercedes, and Guiuan -- all target municipalities under the Foundation's Post-Yolanda initiative. The involvement of both community leaders and government representative in the training course is envisioned to lay the groundwork for collaborative and sustainable conservation efforts in the aforementioned municipalities, paving the way towards greater resilience from both the communities and their natural surroundings in the face of future natural disasters.