MACROHON, Southern Leyte — Intent to enhance its educational campaign on having a healthy mangrove environment, the Provincial Government of Southern Leyte with its Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Management Office, in partnership with the Environment and Rural Development Program (EnRD) of German organization, DeutscheGesellschaft for Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) , recently established a Mangrove Resource and Environmental Learning Center (MRELC) in this town.

The state-of-the-art resource center, which costs P3.2 million to put up, will serve as a learning destination for mangrove resource management for both local residents and tourists where visitors can learn information on sound and environmental practices.

The MRELC is supported by funds from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the European Union. The project also supports and promotes the increased production of mangrove seedlings for mangrove rehabilitation in support of the Southern Leyte Mangrove Greenbelt Project.

The Mangrove Greenbelt Project of Southern Leyte has programmed some 24 hectares planted with some 60,000 seedlings on the coastlines of Bontoc, Libagon, Sogod, Macrohon, Padre Burgos, San Juan, Silago, and Maasin City.

To recall, the province and the GIZ began planting varied mangrove tree species since 2007. The project covers 423 households in seven coastal municipalities, Maasin city and two other towns in the province.

The mangrove project is also a form of small-scale livelihood that will tap the said beneficiaries to propagate and plant mangrove tree species.

Meanwhile, during the inauguration of MRELC, the GIZ turned over equipment to the Municipal Fisheries Law Enforcement Teams (MFLET) for protection and management of coastal and fishery resources in the province.

The endeavor is in support of the Pacific Alliance of Local Government Units for Marine Development Council Inc.

GIZ is a federally-owned enterprise supporting the German government in international development cooperation.