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What is the Article all about?
Read and analyze the article below. Make at least 5 sentences that discusses the
importance of the article you’ve read. How does the article relate to our subject matter?
Think This Over! For you, what would be the primary reason why people always include trees
in describing environment?
Important Reminder: All activities/Inquiry lab written in your notebook must have a picture of it
and must upload in your e-portfolio.
DINAGAT MINING FIRM JOINS FIGHT VS.
SARGASSUM DEBRIS
By Danilo Adorador, III August 8, 2020, 3:02 pm
CAGDIANAO, Dinagat Islands – Seen as a blight
on shorelines and considered a nuisance by fishermen,
the sargassum seaweed is now being used to fertilize the
mined-out lands of nickel miner Cagdianao Mining
Corporation (CMC) here.
Locally known as “samo”, these dense floating
clusters of brown seaweeds would tangle on nets
and boat propellers of local fishermen.
Piles of sargassum would also cover beaches,
making regular cleanup necessary to prevent them
from overwhelming coastal ecosystems, according
to CMC.
In several coastal regions that depend largely on
tourism and marine resources, such as the
Caribbean and the coastal parts of America, the recurring seaweed influxes caused by
sargassum are considered a national emergency.
To help the community "sustainably control" sargassum inundation, CMC's Mine and
Environment Protection and Enhancement Office began experimenting in 2018 on the viability of
using sargassum extracts as fertilizers to be used in the mining company’s mined out areas.
The experiment led to the development of CMC’s Sargassum Liquid Fertilizer (SLF) using the
sargassum gathered from the shorelines around the mine site.
Less than two years since the start of the experiment, CMC said the SLF is now being used as
organic fertilizer for most of the planting materials or seedlings being groomed at the CMC
nurseries, to be planted at the mining company’s mined out areas.
“The challenge of the sargassum in Dinagat Islands has not yet reached crisis level like in other
countries but CMC is already designing ways to help the communities address their own
challenges with the sargassum,” engineer Arnilo C. Milaor, CMC resident mine manager, said
Friday.
Recognizing the ecological importance of sargassum as essential fish habitat and its global role
in the ocean sequestration of carbon, Milaor clarified that the company only harvests
"strandings" or those that have already washed ashore.
FROM 'PEST' TO PARTNER. Engineer Arnilo C. Milaor, Cagdianao Mining Corp. resident mine
manager, shows off the sargassum liquid fertilizer, the company's own product of research and
technology. According to the company’s agriculturist, liquid fertilizer has been proven to be 'very
successful' in growing crops in the mining firm’s rehabilitated area.
(Contributed photo)
This, he said, helps coastal villages control the unsightly influxes while reducing the adverse
impact of sargassum inundations on mangroves and seagrass beds.
According to CMC agriculturist Jessie Dumanig, the SLF has been proven to be "very
successful" in growing crops in the mining company’s rehabilitated area.
“The recorded harvest in 2019 was almost 500 kilograms of fruits and vegetables, such as
pepper, bitter gourd, eggplant, tomato, corn, mash melon, and cabbage, from our demonstration
farms using the SLF, and in 2020 to date, we have a record of some 500 kilograms of fruits and
vegetables from the agroforestry demo gardens in the mine site, exclusively using our organic
SLF,” Dumanig said.
Dumanig said CMC's laboratory findings prove that SLF is rich in nitrogen, phosphorous, and
potassium, nutrients that are essential for plants to achieve maximum growth potential.
“We are very excited. Future plans include the introduction of the SLF to local farmers. We will
introduce to the Dinagatnon this organic fertilizer, which is a product of research and technology
at CMC," he said. “As a responsible mining company, we wish to be one with environmentalists
and scientists in other countries, doing our part by helping the communities in Dinagat Islands
understand and address this global environmental concern.”
CMC, an affiliate of Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC), the country's biggest nickel supplier, mines saprolite and limonite ore on a 697-hectare
mineral reservation area in Barangay Valencia here. (PNA)
Answer:
According to the article that I've read, It is very amusing to know that we, people, have
creative ways in conserving and preserving our natural resources, as well as cleaning our
environment and thinking of ways on how we can convert the problem into something useful for
the environment. It is a very "big brain" move to think the bright side of the current situation and
find effective ways in sustaining the surrounding and the community, it is also super beneficial in
our natural environment because the product "Sargassum Liquid Fertilizer" helps in growing
fruits and vegetables and is also very successful in growing crops in the mining company's
rehabilitation area which is a great news for us.The importance of it is it also gives us
knowledge and understanding about the sargassum beneficial properties and that it gives us
hope that we can save our nature in this one simple step, moreover, we can also contribute in
saving mother Earth. It is truly indeed a big advantage in our nature as well as the people in our
community, other than that, maybe we can also find solutions to other problems with the help of
our environment like the sargassum. According to the question “Does the article relate to the
subject matter?” The answer is yes, it really tackles our subject matter since it involves
environmental studies, conserving our nature and thinking of an alternative way to solve the
problem.
Regarding the additional question, for me trees are the primary reason in describing the
environment because trees are very important to people, it is connected to nature as it is the
longest living on Earth. It makes our Earth healthy because it provides us clean air, fights
against climate change, conserves water, preserves the soils and supports wildlife and humans.
