By Erwin M. Mascariñas
Correspondent .
Butuan City — While the island of Siargao in Surigao del Norte province has been known as a premier international surfing destination, Siargao’s town of Del Carmen will host the third international marathon in the hopes of raising awareness of mangrove conservation and sustainable social tourism.
The event dubbed as the 3rd Siargao International Marathon: Run for mangroves will be held in the town of Del Carmen, Siargao Island today, with runners competing for the 42k, 21k and 5k categories.
“This year will be the third year for the Siargao international marathon here in the town of Del Carmen but we have been hosting our marathon since 2013 with the hopes to raise awareness towards the protection and conservation of our mangrove forest while promoting tourism,” said Vice Mayor Alfredo Coro II.
Each of the runners registered in the race will get an equivalent mangrove stalk that will be planted the following day after the marathon.
“Every year, it has been about our advocacy for the environment while maintaining our target of involving our tourists and making them a part of it all, we hope not only to promote eco-tourism but sustainable social tourism as well,” said Coro.
Coro added that last year’s event was the first in the Philippines hosting an international marathon that prohibits the use of single-use plastics by its participants.
The organizers expect that there will be around 600 to 1,000 participants on this year’s event.
Del Carmen has around 4,871 hectares of mangrove forest which are considered to be the largest continuous mangrove stand in the Philippines and protected under the Siargao Island Protected Landscapes and Seascapes, considered to be a largest marine protected area in the Philippines.
On Oct. 10, 1996, the terrestrial, wetland, and marine areas of Siargao and its surrounding islets were declared as protected under the category of protected landscape and seascape, through the Presidential Proclamation No. 902, covering an approximate area of 728,914.131 hectares.
Coro explained that this year’s event will be unique as it will be the first time that the town will host the event by itself.
“In the past, the funding for the event came from the national and provincial level. This year, it will be fully driven by the local government with partners,” he said.
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