SCIENTISTS and more than 10 civil society groups like the international organization Oceana have called on the government to urgently revert to mangrove forests all abandoned, undeveloped and underutilized (AUU) fishponds. As mandated by the Amended Fisheries Code, this action will mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change.

The groups said that the Philippines had lost over 50 percent of its once thriving mangroves, which totaled an estimated 450,000 hectares in 1918. Fishpond conversion and other coastal development projects have damaged them, leading to the Philippines' ranking as the second-worst country in Southeast Asia in terms of mangrove losses.