Hinatuan Mining Corp. (HMC) announces with pride the success of its coral nursery project in the island of Hinatuan, Tagana-an, Surigao del Norte. HMC is a subsidiary of Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC).
“The coral nursery initiative, designed and implemented by HMC’s Mine Environmental Protection and Enhancement Department (MEPEO), aims to further enhance the growth of the natural coral reef systems around the marine waters of the island,” explains Forester Manuel A. Torres, Jr., HMC’s MEPEO lead and Envi-Manager.
For Jusua dela Peña, HMC’s dedicated marine biologist, ‘success’ means that in less than a year of establishing the nursery – initially with 343 coral fragments in 4 nursery beds – the coral fragments have fully recovered with an excellent growth rate and a yield of 90% survival against a mortality rate of 10%. The nursery begins the successful coral gardening in Hinatuan Island as healthy coral “outgrowths” are transplanted to propagate the coral garden.
The United Nations (UN) connects coral gardening to the current narratives about the pandemic, detailing how humans and our livelihood are connected to corals in so many ways: the fish that live on coral reefs provide food; coral reefs are draws for tourists who bring in the cash that provide livelihood; that there are new medicines being developed from species found in coral reefs; and, that coral reefs help in the protection of our shores from erosion and pollution.
“We know that the priority right now is to keep the communities and our workforce healthy and safe from the virus, but we at HMC will never stop finding ways to also protect the environment and enhance the island’s marine resources,” explains dela Peña.
Engr. Francis J. Arañes, Jr., HMC’s Resident Mine Manager, is most happy about the success of the company’s ‘coral gardening’ because it showcases the healthy waters surrounding the mine site, which is something to be greatly proud of as a miner.
“The coral nursery is located 200 meters from the mine site’s pier and 6 meters in depth from the water line. The excellent growth of the corals signifies that the water quality around the mine and HMC’s marine resources are a healthy support to the overall water ecosystem,” Arañes explains.
Healthy coral outgrowths in HMC’s coral nursery.
“The objective of this program is to highlight NAC-HMC’s sustainable best practices in marine protection, emphasizing our initiatives, as a responsible mining company, in resources protection and tourism development,” Arañes adds.
As a marine biologist, dela Peña attests to ‘growing corals’ as being labor-intensive, requiring dedication and focus. The nursery is monitored twice weekly with the help of experts and licensed-divers. Every inch of growth is recorded, ever recovery rate or otherwise, graphed.
“We cannot emphasize enough the importance of ‘coral gardening’ and we at HMC, as responsible miners, are obviously very passionate about this. Coral gardening plays a significant part in the sustainable development of our environment and in maintaining the integrity of our ecosystem,” dela Peña adds.
Dela Peña explains further that, most importantly, the involvement of the community is a vital component to the success of the coral garden.
Everyone in the mining communities must be taken in as part of the drive to reach the full potentials of the project. This means intensive information, education and communication (IEC) campaigns about corals and, also, to declare the site of the nursery as marine protected area in order to minimize disturbance to allow the corals to reach its full growth to be healthy enough for massive propagations.
The Hinatuan mine site, also known as the “Tagana-an Nickel Project”, is located in Barangay Talavera, Hinatuan Island, municipality of Tagana-an, the Province of Surigao del Norte. Its area of operations is within the Surigao Mineral Reservation.
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