THEY came back expecting to see a lush grove of mangroves, but they only came upon a few scraggly seedlings.

It has been a year after the Youth for Climate Justice-Cagayan de Oro (Y4CJ- CdeO) conducted a mangrove-planting activity at the Clenro Mangrove Refortation Project at Punta, barangay Bonbon this city. It was in commemoration of Earth Day 2022, and they were disappointed to see that none of their seedlings have taken root.

PLANTING FOR THE FUTURE. A Grade 12 HUMSS student of Liceo de Cagayan University plants a mangrove seedling on May 7. The mangrove and coastal cleanup activity aims to highlight the planetary climate emergency in which Cagayan de Oro city is vulnerable. Photo by Pat Jared V. Pangantihon

“We planted about 200 seedlings last year, but none of them survived,” Lenin Amidala Corrales, Y4CJ-CdeO officer, lamented. “There were newly-planted seedlings in the area where we planted, but I'm not confident these will all survive,” she added. “We were given a small number of seedlings, to begin with, but we would have wanted to see at least even half of them make it.”

On May 7, Grade 12 HUMSS students from Liceo de Cagayan conducted a ‘Plant a H.O.P.E. (Happiness, Optimism, and Positivity towards the Environment) Mangrove Planting and Coastal Cleanup’ activity in partnership with Y4CJ-CdeO.

After planting mangroves, the students proceeded with cleaning the area from trash washed in by the sea. Their hope was that next year they would see their planted seedlings survive.

YOUTH FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE. Members and volunteers of the Youth for Climate Justice-Cagayan de Oro join forces with Liceo Grade 12 HUMSS students. A tree planting and coastal cleanup activity was held at the Clenro Mangrove Reforestation project at Punta, Barangay Bonbon this city on May 7. Photo by Pat Jared V. Pangantihon

“We are exerting our utmost efforts to do our part in saving our planet, and we fervently hope that other youths will pitch in and do their share,” said Steve Butron, facilitator of the activity.

“Kini man gud diri nga part sa coastline kusog kaayo ang balod,” said Jerome Saldia, Coastal Management personnel of Clenro. “Ang amo estimate kay mga ten percent ra ang ga survive sa mga tinanum,” he added. “Kinahanglan butangan og wave-breaker para ma protektahan ang seedlings,” he further said. “Nag request naman mi og funding sa syudad, pero wala pa man budget.”

They have tried using bamboo as a wave-breaker, but it didn’t stand a chance against the strong waves. A more permanent solution would involve boulders and even concrete.

“We are calling on the current city administration to allocate the badly-needed funds to build this wave-breaker, so our mangrove seedlings will survive. If they can push for the so-called island-type reclamation at the shoreline of barangays Gusa and Cugman for commercial and economic gain for the city, they should give equal importance to environmental projects,” Corrales said.