ICTSI Foundation, RAFI launch mangrove project in Batangas

The ICTSI Foundation, in partnership with the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI), has launched a mangrove forest enrichment project in Batangas, starting with a ceremonial tree planting in the town of Lian.

The three-year initiative aims to plant 25,000 mangrove seedlings across 2.5 hectares in the municipalities of Lian and San Luis. Two local fisherfolk organizations will maintain the planted areas through 2028.

The first phase covers 12,500 seedlings in Barangay Binubusan, Lian, to be maintained by the Samahan ng Maliliit na Mangingisda ng Binubusan. The second phase, also involving 12,500 seedlings, will be implemented in Barangay Banoyo, San Luis, under the care of the Samahan ng Magdaragat ng Banoyo.

Filipina Laurena, ICTSI Foundation Executive Director, led the kickoff, where 3,000 seedlings were planted in Binubusan by Foundation staff, alongside representatives from RAFI, the two fisherfolk groups, and personnel from the Municipal and Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Offices, the local government of Lian, and the Philippine Coast Guard.

The project builds on an earlier partnership between ICTSI Foundation and RAFI, which introduced the One-to-Tree program in Luzon in 2021. That program resulted in the planting of 45,000 hardwood and fruit-bearing trees across 90 hectares in Balayan and Tuy, Batangas by 2024.

The project is part of ICTSI Foundation’s broader environmental protection efforts.