"Admitting one's ignorance is the first step in acquiring knowledge." - Socrates
"Are there mangroves in Batanes?
What makes a mangrove a mangrove?
Guess by now that it is pretty obvious that with this kind of questions, the Mangrove Loving Penguin (MLP) is proving to be as ignoramus as any tom dick and harry out there when it comes to mangroves. Nonetheless, ignoramus or not, the MLP's quest to visit mangroves in all the coastal provinces of the Philippines continues.
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| At the arrival area of the Basco Airport, there is a tourism map showing the 10 islands of the Batanes archipelago. |
In the pursuit of this quest, the MLP landed in the smallish Basco Airport on that June morning a couple years ago. Ostensibly, the main purpose of the visit was for the Bicolano Penguin to participate in the 2024 Batanes 360 Marathon. But the MLP/BP did not fly a lengthy 669 kilometers from the NAIA Airport to Basco Airport just to run a full mary.
No sirrrreeeee!
Included in the itinerary, before and/or after the marathon, was the exploration of the coastal areas of the Batan Island, the main island of Batanes. Exploring to check if indeed there are mangroves in the northernmost province of the Philippines. Logic would dictate, on one hand, mangroves can be found in Batanes because after all, it is surrounded by the sea and therefore has intertidal zones where mangroves thrive. On the other hand, the archipelagic province of Batanes is notoriously known for its big waves and nasty howling winds, making it one of the most cyclone-prone areas in the country. Such conditions may not be conducive for the survival of mangroves.
But the MLP remained hopeful that I will find mangroves in Batanes. Such hopefulness are buoyed by newspaper articles and social media posts about mangrove planting in Batanes. There is the Manila Bulletin article back in Sept 2021 that talked about the Philippine Coast Guard District Northeastern Luzon planting over 500 mangrove propagules in Cagayan, Aurora, and Batanes. Last Sept 2020, there was a facebook post by the Philippine Information Agency - Cagayan quoting a BFAR Provincial Fishery Officer about their mangrove planting activity in Basco, the provincial capital of Batanes.
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| Sept 2021 Manila Bulletin Article |
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| Sept 2020 Facebook Post |
Hope springs eternal they say. Thus, for the 3-day stint in Batanes, the MLP alloted at least a day to circumnavigate (on land) Batan Island, traversing all four municipalities (Basco, Ivana, Uyugan and Mahatao) in the hope of seeing mangroves and take photos of them. How to go around the island?
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| The island of Batan, with its 4 municipalities: Basco, Mahatao, Ivana and Uyugan. |
The province of Batanes does not have a high concentration of four-wheel vehicles compared to other provinces in the country. This is because Batanes has a relatively small population (2020 census at 18,831,the least populous among all the provinces), and its road network is not as extensive as in other areas. More importantly, Batanes actively promotes eco-tourism and sustainable travel practices, which often translate to a preference for smaller, more environmentally friendly transportation options. Thus, for going around Batan Island in search of the mangroves, MLP had to rely a lot on riding the Batanes version of the tricycle. Their version of the tricycle has a cogon-roofed sidecar, thus the name Cogon Tricycle. Serendipitously, the owner of the Baletin Hometel where I stayed in Batanes, Bert, drives one and so it was that the Cogon Tricycle was the MLP's go-to transport in moving around the island in search of mangroves.
The morning after the 2024 Batanes 360 Marathon, the MLP started early on the quest to look for mangroves in Batan Island. Riding with Bert in the Cogon tricycle of his, we drove down from Basco, where Baletin Hometel was located, along the National Road pass the municipalities of Mahatao and Ivana and beyond the town proper of Uyugan to its barangay called Itbud. The night before, I have studied the map (on Google) of Batan Island and identified five areas of interest: 2 in the capital town of Basco and 1 each in the other 3 municipalities in the island.
Bridge over the mouth of a river in Brgy Itbud (Uyugan)
In my experience of visiting mangroves in the provinces, already at that point in time the MLP has visited 12, mangroves are often found in the mouths of river where they thrive in the brackish water and sheltered environments of estuaries. These areas provide specific conditions mangroves need to flourish, such as a mix of fresh and saltwater, muddy or sandy soils and protection from strong waves. Looking at the map of Batan Island, and for that matter the whole archipelago of Batanes, there are really no major rivers. The landscape of Batanes, characterized by small and hilly islands, does not support large river systems.
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| Google Map view of the Itbud Bridge and the almost dry stream. |
There are seasonal streams though in Batanes , with some of them broad enough to require bridges being built by the DPWH along the National River. One of the broadest bridge in Batan island is the one located in Brgy Itbud in the town of Uyugan. Arriving there just before 8am, it was low tide and given that June is summer in Batanes, the stream was dry. These conditions gave MLP a chance to oberve the flora at the mouth of the stream entering into the sea.
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| Arriving at the Itbud Bridge in the town of Uyugan. In the background is the dry stream with some greenery. |
Are there mangrove trees among the greenery on the streambed? There were a couple of trees among the greenery. But are they mangrove species? The answer is NO. Let us examine each.
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| My Cogon tricycle driver and local guide Bert called this tree a Savidug. It was growing on the dry streambed. If it was the rainy season, the stream will be filled with water and this Savidug tree would have been inundated with water. |
First is the tree the locals in Batanes call Savidug. It is actually a Terminalia catappa commonly known in Luzon as the Talisay. It is a very common seashore tree, on sandy or rocky beaches. Because of this, many coastal towns are named after the Talisay, like in the provinces of Batangas, Camarines Norte, Cebu, and Negros Occidental.
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| The leaves of the Savidug tree are large and ovoid. They have a glossy and leathery dark green surface. |
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| The Savidug tree has an upright symmetrical crown and horizontal branches which are geat in providing shade under the tropical sun. |
The genus "Terminalia" gets its name from the Latin word "Terminus", meaning "end." This refers to the distinctive way the leaves are arranged in a spiral clustered at the end of branches. The specific epithet "catappa" is derived from the Malayan name for the tree "ketapang." The Savidug or Talisay is widely cultivated in the Philippines and other parts of Southeast Asia and South Asia because it is hardy and salt-tolerant. Plus the shade its leaves provide make it popular in the beaches and the roadside. The leaves of the Savidug has medicinal properties that it is applied to sores, skin eruptions, pimples, wounds and eruptions. Its brown or reddish wood makes the Savidug a good quality timber for house and boat construction, furniture and cabinet-making.
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| On the side of the Itbud Bridge was tree which Bert called the Vutalao. It is not actually on the streambed but on the side of the stream, very near where the edge of the stream would have been. |
Second is the tree that the locals in Batanes call the Vutalao or Palo Maria. Its scientific name is Calophyllum inophyllum and in the Tagalog and Bicol regions it is called Dangkalan while in the Visayas it is known as Bitaog. The Vutalao is common on sandy beaches and rocky shores immediately above the waterline. It is also found indland on sandy soils.
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| The Vutalao is a tree with glossy oval shaped leaves, sweet scented flowers, and round green fruits. |
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| According to Bert, the wood used for the sidecar of his Cogon tricycle is from the Vutalao tree. |
The genus name "Calophyllum" originates from Greek, meaning beautiful leaf. The word is derived from the Greek words "kalos", meaning beautiful, and "phullon", meaning leaf. This name reflects the striking appearance of the foliage of the Vutalao. The specific epithet "inophyllum" in Greek refers to the closely nerved leaves. It is a beautiful tree that in some parts of the world it is called "Alexandrian Laurel." It is cultivated as windbreak, reforestation species, and shade in public places. In 1998, a very very old Vutalao or Bitaog tree in Magallanes, Agusan del Norte was given the official title "The Philippine Centennial Tree" by the Philippine Centennial Commission. The old Bitaog tree was thought to be more than 500 years old and it was measured to have a diameter of 290 cm; requiring at least 9 adult persons with extended arms to encircle the trunk. According scientific studies, the seeds of the Vutalao tree contain a high percentage of oil which is not only used for medicinal purposes and as hair grease, but this oil is also used to produce biodiesel. The very hard and durable finegrained wood provides excellent timber for a variety of purposes: boat construction, cabinet work, musical instruments, bowls, cartwheel hubs, and, in the case of the Cogon tricycles of Batanes, sidecar.
While found on the water's edge and on beach, as is the case on the streambed at the Itbud Bridge, both the Savidug and Vutaloa are not classified as true mangroves.
So, on to the next probable spot for mangroves in Batan Island (Batanes).
Deserted beach between the towns of Uyugan and Ivana
One of the famous tourist attraction in Batanes is the Honesty Coffee Shop in the municipality of Ivana. Northward coming from Uyugan town, less than a couple of kilometers away from the Honesty Coffee Shop is a deserted beach which viewed from the google map seemed to have a patch of greenery protruding towards the sea. This site is MLP's next stop on the quest to find mangroves in Batanes.
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| Google Map view of the deserted beach between Uyugan and Ivana. |
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| The deserted beach had a volleyball net in place. On the left are green plants protruding towards the surf. Are there mangroves among them? |
Aligthing from the Cogon tricycle in front of the deserted beach, MLP could see that there is a volleyball net in place but no houses nor nipa huts no beachgoers to indicate that this is a beach resort. What was abundant to the side of the temporary volleyball court are green plants. Are there mangroves among them?
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| Standing as tall as a 10-ft basketball goal, this plant had a yellowish fruit. Bert called it Uhango. |
Easily catching my eyes was a plant with a bright yellow fruit that looked like a very ripe pineapple. The locals call it Uhango. In other parts of the country, it is called Pandan. Its scientific name is Pandanus tectorius. The genus name "Pandanus" is Latinized from the Malayan name "pandang", which refers to the screw pine. The species epithet "tectorius" derives from Latin, referring to rooftops. Common on sandy shores, rocky coasts, and sea-ward fringes of littoral forest where they form characteristic thinckets immediately back of beach. Uhango is dioecious, meaning male and female flowers are borne on separate trees, with vefry different and female flowers. Male flowers, known as racemes, are small and short-lived, lasting only a single day. The female trees produce a segmented, large fruit, resembling a pineapple. The uses of the Uhango are myriad - woven items, housing, food, ornaments, fishing implements, and medicine.
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| With a bright yellow flower like that of a Gumamela, this tree was easy to spot among the green foliage on that beach. Bert called it Hanot. |
Further back of the Uhango tree was another tree, more like a shrub, that had heart-shaped leaves and a bright yellow flower. The locals in Batanes called it Hanot. In other parts of the Philippines, it is called Malabago or Balabago. Its scientific name is Talipariti tiliaceum. The genus name comes from "pariti", a reference to Hibiscus while the prefix "tali" means "slimy and bark strips that contain mucilage, used by native women for shampoo." The specific epithet refers to the morphological similarity of the species' leaves to those of the linden tree, Tilia sp. The Uhango grows on coastal foreshores on sand or rock, behind mangrove communities that border brackish swamp forest and littoral subtropical rainforest on alluvial flats near the sea. The leaves, bark and sap are used medicinally: leaves are wrapped around bone fractures; and fluid from young stems is used as antiseptic for skin eruptions. The inner bark is used for its fibre to make twine, cordage for ropes, nets, basketware, and fishing line.
Sadly, both the Uhango and Hanot are not mangroves. So, we proceed to the next stop in our tour aound Batan Island looking for mangroves.
Huhmurun Blue Lagoon in the town of Mahatao
A lagoon is a shallow body of water that is separated from a larger body of water, usually the ocean, by a natural barrier such as a sandbar or a coral reef. According to field studies, mangroves grow in lagoons which being typically sheltered from strong waves and currents, offer calm waters that mangroves need to establish their root systems. In Batan Island, there is a famous lagoon. It is called the Huhmurun Blue Lagoon. This lagoon is concealed by rocky cliffs near the National Road connecting Mahatao and Ivana. The lagoon is our next stop after the deserted beach in Ivana.
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| Google map vie of Huhmurun Blue Lagoon. |
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| Entrance to the Huhmurun Blue Lagoon |
The lagoon is also known as the Sanish Lagoon because during the time of Spanish Colonization, only Spaniards were permitted to swim in the Huhmurun Blue Lagoon. Now the lagoon is accessible to both locals and visitors. The MLP took the opportunity to take a swim in the very inviting cool waters of the Blue Lagoon especially that the summer sun was in overdrive when we arrived there at 11am already. After the reinvigorating swim, I checked on the green foliage in the area. One shrub piqued my interest as it was located very near the tidal waters. On a very high hide tide known as the spring tide, the location of this particular shrub in the Blue Lagoon will be reached by the seawater.
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| An evergreen shrub with somewhat succulent, soft wooded stems, this plant was called Kamanavang. |
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| With leaves resembling the lettuce, the Kamanavang is also known as the Sea Lettuce and Beach Cabbage in other parts of the world. The leaves are glabrous with a fleshy-looking yellowish green color. |
In additon to it being very near the water in Blue Lagoon, another feature that attracted me to this shrub are its green leaves which looked so succulent it reminded me of lettuce and cabbage. The locals in Batanes call it Kamanavang. In the Tagalog-speaking regions it is called Marokbarok or Balak-balak while in the Visayas, it is called Tagustus. Its scientific name is Scaevola taccada. The genus name "Scaevola" derives from Greek "scaebus" meaning "left-handed" or "akward", referring to the hand-like appearance of the flower. The species epithet "taccada" is derived from a local name for the plant, possibly from Sri Lanka. The Kamanavang typically grows directly on the beaches of tropical forests with a preference for beach crests on coral sands. It grows within the salt spray area, at the high tide mark of sandy beaches. The Kamanavang has medicinal properties with its root decoction used for beriberi, dysentery, syphilis and as antidote after eating poisonous fish or crabs. In some parts of the Philippines, its leaves are occasionally smoked like tobacco. Aside fron its ornamental value, the Kamanavang is used for soil stabilization and wind and salt spray protection in coastal zones.
Again, sadly the Kamanavang is not classified as a mangrove. With the 3 locations thus far producing zero mangroves, where to next for the MLP in the quest to see if there are mangroves in Batanes?
How about back to the capitol town of Basco where the 2 mangrove-planting sites mentioned in the 2020 PIA facebook post are located.
Chadpidan Boulder Beach in Basco
The name "chadpidan" means "west". Thus, the Chadpidan Boulder Beach is so-named because it is located on the western egde of Batan Island. The beach is characterized by large boulders that were spewed by the eruption of Mt. Iraya centuries ago and smoothed by the sea. Have googled whether there are mangrove forests located in boulder beach anywhere in the world and the answer I got is a NO. Boulder beaches, characterized by their rocky composition and exposure to wave action, do not provide the necessary conditions for mangrove growth.
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| Google map view of Chadpidan Boulder Beach |
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| The MLP on the concrete road in Chadpidan Boudler Beach |
Alighting from the cogon tricycle, I could see some tree seedlings planted on the side of the concrete road but they are not mangroves as the concrete road is on elevated ground, about 3 meters above the beach, and therefore not regularly flooded by seawater. What are they then? Clearly, they are not mangroves but trees adapted to dry, sandy and rocky elevated coastal ground. There were at least 2 tree species planted on the side of the road in Chadpidan Boulder Beach but I can only identify one. That one is the Arius tree which the locals acknowledge as the provincial tree of Batanes.
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| Pointing to a tree sampling planted along the road in Chadpidan. |
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| Not able to identify the species of this tree sampling. |
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| This one is an Arius tree sampling. |
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| Flourishing right outside the Batanes provincial capitol in Basco, the Arius tree embody the unique natural heritage and strong character of the islands. |
The Arius tree, also called the Batanes Pine or igem-dagat, is a slow-growing evergreen conifer native to Batanes and Taiwan. It's scientific name is Podacarpus costalis. The generic name Podocarpus comes from the ancient Greek word pous (meaning foot) and karpus (meaning fruit). The second part of the scientific name, costalis, is Latin for coastal, referring to its native sea-cliff and shoreline habitat. Highly valued by the Ivatan people, it functions as an ornamental landscape plant, and a source of edible anti-oxidant berries. Ivatans use living Arius trees as natural, potted Christmas trees to avoid cutting down evergreens. The Arius' ecological role includes as a natural windbreak, slope stabilizer, and watershed cover against soil erosion in coastal environments.
No mangroves in Chapidan. How about in Valugan Boulder Beach?
Valugan Boulder Beach in Basco
In the Ivatan language, "Valugan" means east or the eastern side. Located in the eastern coast of Batan Island, the Valugan Boulder Beach faces the mighty Pacific Ocean. It is filled with smooth, grey volcanic rocks. Swimming is not allowed because the water is very rough. Because of the very strong waves and rough water, there isn't really much hope in finding mangroves in this area as well.Not even much vegetation.
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| Google map view of Valugan Boulder Beach |
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| Strong waves from the Pacific Ocean crash onto Valugan Boulder Beach and stops plant from growing on the stones. |
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| The sign on Valugan Boulder Beach says it all. |
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| No mangroves in Valugan Boulder Beach. The only mangrove visible is the one drawn on the MLP logo of the shirt. |
Directly on the wave-battered, stone-strewn coast, marine conditions and the constant pounding of salt spray prevent extensive plant life from growing among the rocks. Low-lying creeping plants, resilient grasses, and scattered ground cover sprout near the edges of the stone beds and along the upper margins of the beach.
Still, no mangroves in any of the 5 spots I visited in the main island of Batan in the province of Batanes.
Mangroves are absent in Batanes because the islands in the province lack suitable physical conditions. Batanes features steep, rocky, coastal cliffs, narrow foreshores, and high energy wave environments without protected muddy estuaries, gentle intertidal mudflats, or calm river deltas that mangrove tree need to anchor and thrive.
Batanes lacks mangrove forests due to its rocky, wave-battered coastlines steep shores, but it features resilient native beach forest trees. Say what? Beach Forest Trees?
At the time of the MLP's visit to Batanes back in June 2024, I was not yet aware of beach forest trees. It was only after the MLP got to join a week-long training seminar last Feb 2025 that I begun to have a working knowledge about Beach Forest. The name of that seminar is "Training of Trainers on Mangrove and Beach Forest Rehabilitation and Conservation " and it was conducted by an experienced team of ZSL Philippines led by Dr. Jurgenne Primavera. Together with Dr. Resurrecion Sadaba, Dr. Jurgenne wrote a book entitled "Beach Forest Species and Mangrove Associates in the Philippines."
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| This book provides descriptive information on the distribution, ecology, morphology, medicinal and other traditional uses of Beach Forest tree species. |
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| Had the book autographed by Dr. Jurgenne Primavera and she graciously wrote a friendly challenged wrapped in a dedication. |
A mangrove is defined by its ability to live in the wet, salty intertidal zone throug specialized roots and salt-filtering systems, whereas a beach forest tree is defined by its adaptation to dry, sandy, or rocky elevated coastal ground just above the high-tide line.
Together with the mangroves, beach forest trees form a vital natural coastal greenbelt that acts as a frontline defense for shorelines, reducing wave energy, preventing erosion, and protecting communities from storms. In the words of Dr. Jurgenne Primavera and Dr. Resurrecion Sadaba in their book:
"The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and sea level rise associated with global warning, have highlighted the role of beach forest - mangrove greenbelts in conferring protection on coastal communities. Aside from their bioshield function, beach trees and shrubs have numerous medicinal and other traditional uses, and great potential for industrial applications. Many coastal species are also naturally tolerant to sea spray, strong sunlight and dry conditions, making them ideal reforestation species for Climate Change adaptation."
Visiting Batanes, the MLP was not able to find any mangroves but had the good fortune of being introduced to beach forest trees that are no less important. Indeed, beach forest trees like the Vutalao, Savidug, Ohango, Arius, Hanot and Kamanavang * form a natural greenbelt in Batanes province providing an abundance of ecological/community services like coastal protection, soil stabilization, and local resources.
Nature that is giving.
Nature at its best.
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