EASTERN SAMAR, Philippines – Marine biologist Margie de la Cruz still remembers the first time she laid eyes on the barren landscape that Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) carved out in the town of Guiuan, Eastern Samar.

A month after the super typhoon made its first landfall in the town on Nov 8, 2013, she drove from Tacloban to Guiuan, staring speechlessly at what had become of the once-pleasant view.

“You won’t see anything green in the surroundings. Not in the mountains, not in the mangrove areas. It’s all brown and dry. It was like a bomb just dropped in all the places you pass by and you would wonder, maybe nothing will grow anymore.”

But nature proved her wrong.

After another month, the grasses started coming out and the trees began sprouting.

“It gives you hope,” she said.

More than 19,000 hectares of mangroves, in-land forests and natural parks were devastated by Yolanda, according to the latest data from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The total cost of environmental damage reached more than P450 million. 

The extensive damage to Mother Nature trickles down to human communities. In Eastern Samar, one of the poorest provinces in the country, more than half of the population depend on the environment for their livelihood. (READ: ‘Farmers, fishermen left out of Yolanda recovery efforts’)

In Guiuan alone, 80% of its more than 47,000 people depend on the local fishing industry. Coconut farming is the second major agricultural livelihood in the province.

Bigger fish

Guiuan’s mangroves and corals – vital ecosystems that supply the fish catch of fishermen – suffered the most from Yolanda. 

Mangrove forests are the front-liners to storm surges, acting as the buffer to protect coastal communities. They were able to protect some fishermen villages from the worst of the storm, but suffered immensely in the process.  

Strong waves stripped them of their leaves, tore their branches and even uprooted some of them. 

This worries De la Cruz because mangroves “make the waters of Guiuan very rich. Biodiversity is high here. Before the typhoon, the resources were overfished. Without mangroves, it will be hard to bring back the fish.”

More than 20 marine sanctuaries from Guiuan to Lawaan depend on healthy mangrove forests.

The situation is even worse for the coral reefs in the area. “The branching corals are broken to pieces. The massive corals are covered with silt and they’re all dying,” lamented De la Cruz.

What were once lush sea grass meadows are now covered in sand. Yolanda’s strong waves washed up rocks on top of coral reefs which, in low tide, are exposed.

But Yolanda did one good thing for the marine ecosystem: it allowed nature to rest from the fishing industry.

“Now in the market, the size of the fish are big compared to before the typhoon. My guess is the fish were able to rest for a while because nobody was fishing for at least two months. So now you get bigger fish,” explained De La Cruz.

Fixing the damage

DENR was given P1 billion to deal with Yolanda’s vast environmental wreckage. According to DENR Assistant Secretary for Administration and Finance Corazon Davis, the funds will go to damage assessment, rehabilitation and enhancement programs. 

The agency has allotted more than P176 million to reforest the more than 19,000 hectares of damaged ecosystems.

Many of the damaged trees were planted under the National Greening Program, the DENR’s biggest project and recipient of the lion’s share of the agency’s 2014 budget. It aims to plant 1.5 billion tree seedlings by 2016 as away to bring back the country’s lost forest cover.

The DENR also says it will delineate 20 to 40 meters of coastal areas which will be reserved for new mangrove forests. The initiative will prioritize areas near fishing communities where it will make the biggest impact. (READ: DENR to restore mangrove forests in Yolanda-hit areas)

By studying the mangrove forests that did survive Yolanda, DENR is also finding out which mangrove species are the strongest and most resilient. These specific species will be the ones they will plant. 

National efforts are joined by local efforts.

De La Cruz, with the help of her NGO Guiuan Development Foundation Inc, are making their own assessments of the damage in Guiuan. They’ve been working with local fishermen on ways to resuscitate their mangrove forests and coral reefs.

Mother Nature may be reviving on her own, but she still needs the help of humans to make a faster full recovery. – Rappler.com