Agusan River Basin Mangrove Wildlife Conservation Network

Click here for the ARBMWCNetwork Project Description

Masao River Mangrove Restoration Project

Click here for a tour of the project site. Play music

Like many coastal areas in the Philippines, much of Butuan´s mangrove forest has been converted for brackish water pond aquaculture as the city´s response to high demand of prawn in the international market.

The aerial picture on the left still shows significant mangrove cover at the mouth of the Agusan River but recent satellite images on the right (from GoogleEarth) shows the extent of aquaculture farms in Butuan City. However, no inventory of mangrove loss has been conducted in the area.

Although, the area has been highly productive before, it is common to hear from local people that the present environmental quality of the area has resulted to the decline of aquaculture production. Previous study by the Agusan National High School Special Science Class (1998), reported high level of coliform contamination along the Masao River. The remaining mangrove forest is also threatened by certain economic and engineering projects all the way up to headwaters of the Agusan River .