Calendar heightens awareness on mangroves
They're not the typical pin-up calendar photographs but they are no less breath-taking.
With vivid and colorful images, an internationally recognized mangrove conservation advocate has brought her cause to offices and homes.
Retired Iloilo-based scientist Jurgenne Primavera has come up with a Mangrove Tidal Calendar to help scientists, especially researchers on fisheries and aquaculture, determine accurately tidal patterns at anytime of the day.
While many calendars indicate the time of the low and high tides, the Mangrove Tidal Calendar gives detailed levels corresponding to a particular time.
“This is very useful to determine when to conduct field researches and samplings,” said Primavera.
But more than a technical aid, the calendar is a visual delight with full-page photographs of mangroves mostly taken on Panay Island by Primavera and colleague Armi Torrechila.
A project of the Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation, the calendar is part of efforts to raise public awareness on mangroves and the importance of conservation efforts.
Primavera, a Pew Fellow, was last year cited by Time magazine as among the “Heroes of the Environment” along with activists, scientists, celebrities, innovators and financiers all over the world for their contribution to environmental protection.
The calendar opens with an imposing picture of a century-old pagatpat tree (Sonneratia alba) in Pedada Bay in Ajuy town in Iloilo.
The month of February is highlighted with a collage of photographs depicting the many uses and products derived from mangroves.
While depicting scenic images, notes accompanying photographs provide information on the cause of mangrove decline like overexploitation, conversion to settlements, croplands and salt beds.
One of the most powerful photographs in the calendar is on the page for the month of May which shows an abundant growth of bungalon or apiapi (Avicennia marina) in Tangalan town in Aklan that covers the whole page with a sea of green.
Other photographs show children learning or frolicking near mangrove growths.
Primavera said the calendar project is part of their efforts to heighten awareness on mangroves.
“It (awareness) is still low despite advances,” she said.
The Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation has also designed a pilot module on basic mangrove appreciation and conservation for elementary and high school students.
The distribution of calendars has so far been limited to 500 (complimentary) copies but Primavera said they will print additional copies if it will catch interest.
Primavera said they also want to develop the aesthetic appreciation of mangroves.
“Most people would still associate mangroves with mud and mosquitoes and we are working hard to correct that perception,” she said.
(Inquiries on the calendar can be relayed to jurgenne.primavera@zsl.org or at 033-3384430).