Mount Laulau - 09/08/07

TOUCHING:

It is a beautiful thing knowing that there are people out there aside from our local people that show a great deal of love and caring for our islands. Thank you Angelo and Bree. Your dedication and devotion are vary much appreciated. I am very interested in doing volunteer work to beautify CNMI. I will be checking your blogs for scheduled dates and you will definitely see me around. I will also bring family and friends to lend a helping hand.

The hike to Mount Laulau was a bit difficult for me but very interesting. Our class was accompanied by Angelo.

Angelo explained that the local ways of clearing land is by burning the trees which is not good. He went on and explained that when the trees are burned, not only does it spread further but the fire also burns the soil. When soil is burned, it becomes very dry so when it rains or we have a typhoon, there is a runoff of burned soil from Mount Laulau into our ocean.

I learned that the disadvantage of the soil being burned is that it becomes acidic disallowing plants and trees to grow. When there are no plants and trees on the hill, the soil becomes loose allowing runoffs to happen on rainy or typhoon days. The advantage of having plant and trees planted on the hill is to hold the soil in place and avoid major runoffs. Angelo showed us areas where ferns grew on the hill and he said that ferns grow well on acidic soil but plants and trees does not.

Angelo also explained that farmers near the hill uses fertilizers and pesticides and these also gets washed down into our ocean by rain or typhoon. In addition to farmers is the golf course in which they use chemicals for the growth of their grass and although a beautiful sight to see, the chemicals are deadly for our marine animals.

Economic View:

Because Laulau is one of the best diving spots for tourists, it is important to keep Laulau beach clean so marine life will be present for many years to come. An estimate of divers per day at Laulau is 100 with a diving cost of between $75 to $100 making about $1,000 daily.

The hike was a learning and an enjoyable experience for me and I hope we will do more before our semester is over. I definitely will inform my family that they should not burn trees as a way of clearing their land.