DEL CARMEN, SURIGAO DEL NORTE — A three-way partnership planted 2,300 mangrove seedlings along the coast of Del Carmen on October 23, 2026, bringing together CLIMBS CARES, Kusgan Volunteers Inc., and the Barangay Caub Marine Association (BACAMA) with the municipal government and its environment office. The activity focused on two species, bakhaw babae (Rhizophora mucronata) and bakhaw lalaki (Rhizophora apiculata), both suited to the muddy and sandy-muddy shorelines where mangroves take root.
A Planting That Feeds a Larger Forest
The significance of the activity lies in where it happened. Del Carmen's mangrove reserve spans roughly 4,871 hectares, forming the largest contiguous mangrove forest in the Philippines and accounting for more than half of Siargao Island's total mangrove cover. It was formally designated a Ramsar Site of International Importance in 2024, and its official marker was unveiled in July 2026. Planting 2,300 seedlings is a modest addition to a forest of that size, but restoration works at the margins, and the species chosen are the same ones that built the reserve. The activity was carried out with the participation of 41 planters, a group small enough to move carefully through the site and large enough to cover ground efficiently.
The Groups Behind the Work
The partnership reflects a model in which corporate volunteers, civic organizations, and local people's organizations divide the labor. CLIMBS CARES, the volunteer outreach arm of CLIMBS Life and General Insurance Cooperative, has been running mangrove planting drives across the country. Kusgan Volunteers Inc. provides logistical and volunteer support. BACAMA, a people's organization based in Barangay Caub, brings something the others cannot: local knowledge of the shoreline, the tides, and the conditions that determine whether a seedling survives its first year. The municipal environment office and the local government provided coordination and site access.
Why Survival Matters More Than Planting
Mangroves absorb carbon, hold shorelines against storm surge, and shelter juvenile fish that later feed coastal fisheries. But seedlings that die within months deliver none of those benefits. The involvement of BACAMA matters precisely because restoration success depends on post-planting care, monitoring, and the kind of site-specific judgment that outside volunteers cannot supply alone. For Del Carmen, the long-term value of the October 23 activity will be measured not by the number of seedlings placed in the mud but by how many are still standing years from now.
