The city of El Salvador is one of the nesting areas of the critically endangered hawksbill turtles in Macajalar bay. On April 12, 2014, the LGU of El Salvador City with the presence of Mayor Alfredo Q. Tan released 79 hatchlings at barangay Sinaloc. This is the third incident of sea turtle nesting in the area as reported by the LGU

Female hawksbill turtles, locally known as pawikan, are known to lay eggs where they were also originally hatched. Female adults typically nest every two to three years, and eggs incubate for close to two months.

Hawksbills, according to the World Wildlife Fund, are considered “critically endangered” and are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

They are hunted for their colored and patterned shells, which are highly valuable and sold as “tortoiseshell” in markets.

Mangrove Sanctuary at Taytay, perfect place to relax and unwind.

(Source)

On September 15, 2013,the SGI-Philippines Youth Division members from Cagayan de Oro City conducted the mangrove tree planting activity at Taytay, El Salvador City.

They planted 2,000 propagules (mangrove trees) in a site together with the members of the Lotus Sutra Research Group (LSRG), a student group of the Capitol University, Cagayan de Oro City.

This activity was originally initiated by 16 young men of SGI-Philippines in 2003 who planted 500 mangrove trees. Since that time, they went back and forth to the site to take care of the mangrove trees. Later, the group’s activity gained more understanding and support both from public and private sectors such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Local Government Unit of El Salvador City, 1001 Coastguard Auxiliary Unit, and Capitol University.

Today, the mangrove trees being planted has reached to 20,600 and have grown up into fine trees. (Source)

June 5, 2014

Close to 5,000 mangrove propagules were planted by more than 500 participants from various national government line agencies, private sectors, local government units, people groups, media and the academe including MUST. The activity aims to alleviate the effects of global warming and climate change to mother earth and its inhabitants. (Source)