On a typhoon-swept island, one town rebuilds its coast guard: nature

Editor’s note: In 2011, the Philippines town of Silonay — a fishing village situated on a small island in the province of Oriental Mindoro — established a mangrove “ecopark.” The effort, supported by Conservation International (CI), local governments and other non-profit partners, aims to protect and restore mangrove coastal forests that had been degraded by years of unsustainable wood harvesting. (Mangroves, which store outsized amounts of carbon in their root systems, are a critical nature-based solution to climate change). Since the park was established, the village has worked to replant mangroves, improve fishing and support livelihoods through ecotourism.

As coastal communities face the effects of overfishing and sea-level rise, restoring mangroves has never been more important. In this series of photos, Conservation News looks at one community’s efforts to rebuild what has been lost.