The beach forest in the Philippines has received the least attention from government and conservationists, in contrast to the tropical rain forest and the mangrove forest, both of which have been the objects of research and conservation efforts of government and private sectors of society.
I think one of the reasons for this neglect is the perception that beach forests are not as economically important as the other two types of forest. This may well be if one considers only the direct financial benefits derived from forests.
It is not true if ecosystem services and cultural values are part of the valuation methodology. It is especially not true if we consider that we have been ushered into a world of climate change when storm surges have become more frequent.
Beach forests are probably as important as mangroves in serving as the first line of defense of human communities against strong winds and rampaging ocean waters during times of stormy weather.
Part of the buffering function of beach forests is the filtering of floodwaters of the suspended soil particles before reaching the sea, thus, preventing sedimentation of coastal waters that would kill coral reefs.
In the past, beach forests formed a continuum with mangroves on the seaward side, and the Lowland Dipterocarp forest on the landward side. They serve as ecotone or transition between terrestrial and marine biotic communities.
Some species of salt-tolerant plants are found in beach forests. Many animal species spend part of their life histories or forage in beach forests. Two common examples are the “tabon” bird and the marine turtles, both of which nest on beach forests. It is of interest to note that many people believe that imaginary animal species that are supposed to “harm” people live in large trees in beach forests.
Most Philippine beach forests have been lost to human development projects, and many of our young people today do not have any idea of what they look like. It is time to save what remains of these forests by protecting them and planting as many species originally occurring there.
By restoring them to their original status, we can improve the messy, unhealthy appearance of our coastal areas and make people appreciate more the coastal environments.
This will take much effort and the will to accomplish the goal of restoring these forests. It will require a wide community participation as well as concerted effort on the part of those concerned with the environment.
It is worthy of note that Dr. Jurgenne H. Primavera has started the movement to conserve the beach forest on the island of Panay.
The excellent, illustrated book on beach forest by Jurgenne H. Primavera and Resurreccion B. Sadaba (2012), which was reviewed in this column a couple of weeks ago, describes 150 species of trees, shrubs and vines, plus 43 species observed in the field, is full of information on the flora of beach forests in the Philippines. The information contained in this book can be used as a guide to restore certain coastal areas where the beach forest flourished in the past.
