22/05/2026
๐จ ๐ฟ OVER 30 YEARS OF SCIENCE AVAILABLE. WHY ARE WE STILL PLANTING BAKHAW IN THE WRONG PLACE?
Let's talk about one of the most persistent, well-funded, and photographed environmental failures in the Philippinesโand why a 2024 DENR memorandum that should have changed everything is apparently still being ignored.
In January 2024, DENR finally released Memo Order 2024-54 โ a long-overdue policy that essentially validated what Dr. Jurgenne Primavera and mangrove scientists have been screaming about for over 20 years.
๐ฟ THE BACKSTORY MOST PEOPLE DON'T KNOW
For more than two decades, Dr. Jurgenne Primavera, one of the world's foremost experts on Philippine mangroves, along with a dedicated community of scientists, NGOs, and coastal advocates have been raising the alarm: we are rehabilitating mangroves wrong, and it is causing more harm than good.
The problem is deceptively simple. When organizations plant mangroves, they almost universally reach for Rhizophora species โ locally known as bakhaw. Why? Because it's easy. The propagules are large, visible, and convenient to plant like a stake in the ground. You don't need a nursery. You don't need much training. You can mobilize 200 volunteers, take great photos, and count your "trees planted" by sundown.
But here's what those photos don't show: bakhaw is a middle-to-landward zone species. Planting it in the seafrontโon mudflats, tidal flats, seagrass beds, and seaward zonesโis ecologically destructive. It smothers natural recruitment, outcompetes the correct species, damages seagrass beds, and creates monoculture plantations that are far more vulnerable to typhoons and climate stress than a naturally diverse mangrove forest.
For 20+ years, Dr. Primavera and colleagues have been training educators, government officials, LGU staff, NGO workers, and community leaders on the correct science: the right species for the right zone. For seaward zones, it's Avicennia marina (bungalon) and Sonneratia alba (pagatpat), species that are far harder to propagate, require nursery establishment, and don't make for convenient photo opportunities.
And yet, the bakhaw planting continued. Year after year. Project after project. Millions of pesos spent. Hundreds of thousands of "trees planted" that either died or caused harm.
WHAT DENR MEMO 2024-54 ACTUALLY SAYS?
๐ซ Planting of Rhizophora species in seaward zones is STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
๐ซ Planting on mudflats/tidal flats and lower subtiddal zones is PROHIBITED.
๐ซ Planting on seagrass beds is PROHIBITED.
โ
Seaward zones must use Avicennia marina (locally known as bungalon/api-api) and Sonneratia alba (pagatpat/palapat).
โ
All DENR offices near coastal areas must include mangrove species in seedling productionโEXCEPT Rhizophora spp.
โ
Proper nursery establishment is REQUIRED.
โ
Species-site matching is MANDATORY.
โ
Abandoned, Unutilized, and Underdeveloped (AUU) fishponds turned over by BFAR to DENR are now PRIORITY areas for enrichment planting โ not seafronts, not mudflats.
โ
Plantation care and maintenance must be sustained for at least 3 years.
This isn't a suggestion. This is a Memorandum from the DENR Secretary, addressed to all Regional Executive Directors from Region 1 to 12, CARAGA, and NCR, and to the Directors of the Biodiversity Management Bureau, Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau, and Forest Management Bureau.
SO WHY ARE WE STILL SEEING BAKHAW PLANTINGS IN THE SEAFRONT IN 2025 AND 2026?
More than two years have passed since this memo was signed. And yet:
โ LGU-led mangrove planting events still feature bakhaw propagules being jabbed into mudflats.
โ Corporate CSR and ESG "mangrove planting" photo ops still show neat rows of Rhizophora along seafronts.
โ Some CSO-implemented projects are still procuring bakhaw because "that's what we've always done."
โ Even some government agencies and the DENR field officesโthe very implementers of this memoโhave been observed continuing wrong-zone planting, setting a damaging precedent for the community groups and People's Organizations they supervise.
To DENR, a memorandum without enforcement is just paper with a letterhead. We acknowledge and thank you for Memo 2024-54. It represents hard-won progress from decades of scientific advocacy. But a memo that is not monitored, not enforced, and not resourced is ineffective policy.
We call on DENR to:
๐ Issue clear enforcement guidelines and penalties for non-compliance
๐ Conduct rapid assessments of ongoing and recently completed mangrove projects
๐ Publicly identify and correct field offices and implementing partners found to be violating the memorandum
๐ Fast-track the training of all CENROs, PENROs, and People's Organizations as mandated in the memorandum
Share this. Tag your LGU. Tag your CSR department. Tag your favorite "mangrove planting" organization. Tag your CENRO, PENRO, or PGENRO.
The science has been settled for decades. The policy is now in place. What we need now is accountability.
To access the memorandum order, click here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LTONIxbVGrrita9k-43dvMizMOHYPGhY/view?usp=sharing
