MANGROVE deforestation is a global crisis, but this scientist-turned-filmmaker has found hope in a small Southern Tagalog town where culture and nature intersect in surprising ways.

With mangrove decline continuing largely unchecked, coastal communities that have depended on these forests for generations face losing the heart not just of their food, fuel, shelter, and livelihood, but also of their very culture.

For Dr. Lemnuel Aragones, a marine biologist and former director of the University of the Philippines-Diliman College of Science Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology (UPD-CS IESM), all is not yet lost.

His debut documentary, 'Bakawan' (the Tagalog term for mangroves), tells the story of the people of Alabat Island in Quezon Province, a five-hour drive and an hour's ferry ride away from the nation's capital.

Shot during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, the film delves into the townspeoples' renewed relationship with the mangroves that they call home. With the theme, 'Kahalagahan, isyus, at pagpapanumbalik,' the documntary explores the human story of living in and with Alabat's estuarian mangrove forest.

A collaboration between Aragones and UP Film Institute Associate Professor and filmmaker Nick Deocampo, 'Bakawan' is part of the IESM's 20th founding anniversary celebration this year.

Funded by the UP Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Cinema Education research project explored ways to improve audio-visual materials for Philippine schools, such as by looking at how documentaries could be used to supplement and augment existing teaching and learning methods.

'We are exploring ways to maximize the utility of cinema for education by promoting inclusive education in the Philippines,' Aragones explained.

The free public premiere of 'Bakawan' is on March 27, 2023 (Monday), at 1p.m. at the Institute of Biology Auditorium, UP Diliman.

The full teaser trailer for Bakawan can be viewed at https://youtu.be/VlnSo3gn73U

Contact media@science.upd.edu.ph for inquiries.