ILOILO City – A globally recognized Filipino marine scientist has called on the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to repeal its October 2025 memorandum allowing the earth-balling and relocation of mangroves in “exceptional circumstances,” warning that the policy lacks scientific grounding and could endanger critical coastal ecosystems.
Earth-balling (or “balling and burlapping”) is the method of digging up a young tree or plant with the soil around its roots kept intact in a compact “ball,” usually wrapped with burlap/sack, so the roots are protected during transport and the seedling survives better when replanted (transplanting/shifting).
Dr. Jurgenne Primavera, chief mangrove scientific advisor of the Zoological Society of London and Academician of the National Academy of Science and Technology, issued a public statement Monday urging DENR secretary Raphael Lotilla to rescind the memorandum dated October 8, 2025.
“May I call for the repeal of DENR Memo on Guidance on Mangrove Earthballing and Relocation in Exceptional Circumstances dated 8 October 2025 and signed by the two Undersecretaries for Field Operations for Luzon and Visayas, and for Mindanao. The Memo mentions ‘established methodologies and … relevant issuances by the ERDB, FMB and BMB’, but there is no attachment describing such methodologies,” Primavera said.
Primavera criticized the memorandum’s provision requiring proponents to adopt “established methodologies” from the Ecosystem Research and Development Bureau (ERDB), Forest Management Bureau (FMB), and Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB), noting that no such methodologies were attached or clearly defined.
She specifically cited Item No. 2 under the memorandum’s “Guidance and Conditions,” which states that survival of earth-balled mangroves shall be the “paramount consideration” and that proponents must submit a Mangrove Rehabilitation and Monitoring Plan prior to permit issuance.
However, Primavera warned that scientific data show transplantation of mature mangroves results in extremely low survival rates.
Among the findings she cited:
* A China study showing a low 20–25% survival rate of two mangrove species 10 months after earth-balling (Wang and Wang, 2007);
* a DENR-ERDB study showing a low average survival rate of 10% for earth-balled mangroves;
* an Australia study showing mortality after 2.5 years for mangroves with trunk diameters exceeding 5 centimeters (Abbot and Marohasy, 2014); and
* data from Ibajay, Aklan showing adult mangroves with average trunk diameters of 9–16 centimeters.
“The above data show that earth-balling of mature mangrove trees (i.e., more than 5 cm diameter) causes mortality, therefore such data could not be used to refine a proposed DENR Administrative Order on Sustainable Coastal Development which included mangrove earth-balling. Since then, no definitive DAO has been issued by the DENR on the subject,” Primavera said.
She also recalled that as early as June 2019, the late DENR Region 6 Director Jim O. Sampulna halted mangrove earth-balling along the Iloilo River because “transplanting mangroves results to a very low survival rate.”
Primavera further cited the 2018 conclusion of scientists from the Mangrove Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), who found limited scientific research on mangrove transplantation, likely due to physiological stress and logistical difficulties in moving heavy machinery across muddy mangrove substrates.
“Mangroves are at the frontline of Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation. No amount of flagship government projects will be environmentally sustainable, so long as they are based purely on infrastructure,” Primavera stressed.
She pointed to the Jaro, Iloilo Floodway Project as an example of how infrastructure can coexist with nature-based solutions, noting the subsequent growth of a 40-hectare mangrove greenbelt as a “classic demonstration of Nature-based solutions or Green-Gray Engineering.”
Following a March 6, 2025 Roundtable Discussion on Science-Driven Solutions for Sustainable Coastal Development, the Global Mangrove Alliance of the Philippines (GMAP) formally requested the DENR and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to reconsider their position on mangrove earth-balling for infrastructure projects.
“May I repeat the GMAP request by calling on DENR to rescind the October 2025 Memo on Mangrove Earth-balling and Relocation,” Primavera added.
The October 8, 2025 memorandum states that its purpose is to “strictly conserve, protect, and sustainably manage mangrove ecosystems as critical natural infrastructure for coastal protection, biodiversity, and climate resilience.”
It allows earth-balling only in exceptional cases, such as when mangroves pose danger to navigation channels or airport runways, or when required by infrastructure flagship projects endorsed by the Department of Economic, Planning and Development, provided that mitigation measures have been exhausted.
The memo explicitly prohibits earth-balling for commercial, recreational, or private purposes.
All pending and future applications must comply with strict ecological, monitoring, and Environmental Impact Statement requirements before permits are issued.
Despite these safeguards, Primavera warned that the science does not support relocation of mature mangroves — and that weakening protections could undermine the country’s climate resilience efforts./PN
