World · East Asia & Pacific · 2 hrs ago
Bamboo, shells and coconut husks help protect Philippine village from floods
Pamarawan, a fishing village in the Philippines, used to flood when monsoon waves and typhoons hit its coast.
Its existing concrete breakwater did little to stop water from reaching streets and homes.
A pilot project approved by Malolos’ mayor uses bamboo, oyster shells and coconut husks instead of relying only on concrete.
The structures reduce incoming wave energy, while bamboo cribs trap mud and sand that could help raise the seabed for mangrove planting.
Oyster shells in coconut-husk nets are intended to help restore reefs, strengthening the shoreline against future floods.
Residents no longer experience flooding, and the 130 million peso project is due to finish later this year.
The project is the country’s first of its kind and may offer a model for other flood-prone areas.
Pamarawan, a low-lying fishing village in the Philippines, has not experienced flooding since a nature-based coastal defense project was built, Mongabay reports.
The project uses bamboo poles, oyster shells and coconut husks to reduce wave energy and protect the shoreline.
Bamboo structures cover 14 hectares off the coast and trap sediment that could eventually support mangrove planting.
The pilot is the Philippines’ first nature-based coastal protection project and may offer a model for other flood-prone areas.
- Who
- Residents of Pamarawan, a fishing village in Malolos City, Bulacan province.
- What
- A coastal defense and flood-control project uses bamboo, oyster shells and coconut husks to reduce flooding.
- When
- The project began in 2024 and was slated for completion later in 2026.
- Where
- Pamarawan, on North Manila Bay in the Philippines.
- Why
- The village faced recurring floods from waves, storm surges and high tides.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Malolos Mayor Christian Natividad approved the project proposed by Dutch engineering firm Haskoning.
The pilot project began.
Natividad said in a TV interview that the project was prompted by recurring severe flooding in Malolos and other Bulacan towns.
Mongabay's photo caption dated an image of oyster shells in coconut husk nets in Pamarawan.
Mongabay's photo caption dated an image of boats inside a bamboo enclosure in Pamarawan.
- Location
- Pamarawan, Malolos City, Bulacan province, Philippines
- Materials
- Bamboo poles, oyster shells and coconut husks
- Area covered
- 14 hectares off the coast
- Project cost
- 130 million Philippine pesos ($2 million)
- Project start
- 2024
What people are saying
When there was a typhoon, the waves would go over the breakwater by almost a meter, a direct hit on the houses beside the dike
And for the longest time, coastal protection is really heavily reliant on gray infrastructures, hard infrastructures
We see that it’s not enough
was developed in response to a clear societal challenge: increasing coastal flood risk driven by storm surges, high tides, sea-level rise and land subsidence in Barangay Pamarawan