Missing mangroves.

• Author: Weber, Peter
• Position: Need protect mangroves to support the ecosystem

On the island of Negros in the Philippine archipelago, Wilson Vailoces has been planting mangrove trees since the early 1980s. His neighbors made fun of him at first. They said the mangroves looked funny, like little trees perched on stilts in the mud and brine. They didn't see any use in his back-breaking labor to revive the murky mangrove swamps that had once lined their tropical coast.

Vailoces, however, was resolute. In his 50 some years, he had watched people cut down the mangroves and dynamite the coral reefs offshore, and he had seen his fish catch fall. For Vailoces, the connection was clear. His livelihood as a fisher depended on the fish spawned in these coastal ecosystems. To restore his fish catch, he had to do something to restore the coastline. He searched out the only remaining patch of mangroves on his island, gathered the trees' finger-length shoots, and took them home to plant.

His commitment paid off, says Don Hinrichsen, an English researcher and writer who has extensively studied coastal ecosystems throughout the world. When Hinrichsen first visited Negros in 1988, Vailoces had established a few acres of young mangroves, which already were teeming with life. Crabs, shrimp, mussels, and other creatures clung to the mangroves' broom-like roots or scuttled below in the mucky soils. The revitalized coastal wetland was restocking Vailoces' fishing grounds, improving his catch.

His efforts were...