Solid waste management is considered a pressing global issue calling for an immediate response from the government and its people. The Philippines has a continuously rising amount of waste and is expected to further increase in the succeeding years. As reviewed, associated problems with solid waste management in the country include an increasing amount of solid waste, weak law implementation, scarcity of sanitary landfills, and improper disposal. The ultimate solution existing in the country is the RA 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 which highlights the practices of segregation, proper disposal, and waste diversion. The importance of envisioning a trash-free Philippines and encouraging people’s participation and awareness is also emphasized. Another possible solution to solid waste management is valorization which can also address other environmental problems such as the depletion of natural resources. These solutions enumerated will only be possible with the presence of good governance, active participation of the people of the country, and the cooperation of all constituents and agencies in the Philippines.

Kandelia candel (L.) Druce is a true mangrove species under the family Rhizophoraceae. It is distributed throughout southeast Asia to south China, the Ryukyu Island and southern Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. In the Philippines, its only known area of occurrence is the province of Aurora, the central easternmost coast of Luzon island. However, there has been a long-standing debate on the presence of natural populations of Kandelia candel in the Philippines. Adding to the confusion, a number of molecular studies reported that the Kandelia populations from north of the South China Sea (SCS) are a genetically different species – Kandelia obovata – making the genus non-monotypic. Some mangrove biologists hypothesized that Kandelia populations in Aurora might have been introduced to the province by some fishermen from Taiwan. On the other hand, some papers suggest that Kandelia populations in the Philippines were shaped by the founders from the populations in Southern SCS. A recent population inventory conducted by the authors, complemented by taxonomic characterization, strongly suggests that Kandelia candel is native in the province of Aurora, Philippines.

This paper provides the diversity assessment of the tree species in Sitio Dicasalarin, Barangay Zabali, Baler, Aurora including the endemism and ecological status. A total of 2239 individuals from 139 morphospecies, 87 genera and 46 families were recorded. A total of 48 Philippine endemic species and 2 Aurora Endemic species were found and at least 29 threatened species were listed either in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and Philippine List of Threatened Species. Results of the tree diversity showed that the area is highly diverse being a well-protected and well-managed area.

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COVID 19 has brought significant damages to the lives of the people due to extremely long lockdowns and unemployment. Thus, leaving no choice to the residents but to depend their survival on what is available in the environment. This study was conducted to assess the contribution of the forests to the lives of the locals in Aurora through a survey on 161 respondents. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics like frequency, mean, rank, and percentage. Results showed that 100% of the respondents depends on the forests for their food which includes fruits and vegetables in the wild and in their farms situated in the along and in the forest. Meanwhile, 116 individuals (72%) obtained livelihood from the forest in times of the pandemic in the form of labor, farming, selling of forest goods, charcoal making, and furniture making. Generally, the individual income obtained from forest livelihood ranged from Php500.00 to Php25,000.00 and an overall mean individual monthly income of Php4,084.19. Each type of livelihood activities provided a mean monthly income ranging from Php 4350 to Php 9021 per person. However, the respondents faced challenges such as loss of products due to theft, competition among those with the same livelihood due to limited number of consumers, and struggles concerning the health of the workers especially the elders, disabled, and other high-risk individuals to COVID-19. The government must consider providing needs (financial, technical, knowledge) to the locals in obtaining products and services from the forest for a sustainable utilization of the resources.