My earliest training was in zoology, and when I began studying the taxonomy of mangroves, I found the diversity of these habitats challenging. On a trip to the Mai Po, Hong Kong, mangroves in 1993, experts from Thailand and Vietnam effortlessly called off the scientific names of mangrove species—Avicennia marina, Kandelia candel, Aegiceras corniculatum, etc. Feeling ignorant, I vowed to master the Indo-Pacific species of mangroves. Indeed it took me 10 years to write and publish, with UNESCO support, the Handbook of Mangroves in the Philippines—Panay, which came out last year. The diversity of mangroves and their wide distribution in the archipelago in the past are reflected in the names of many coastal towns and villages. The name of the country's premier city, Manila, derives from Maynilad, meaning there is nilad, referring to the mangrove Scyphiphora hydrophyllacea, which grew profusely along Manila Bay in pre-Hispanic times.

Primavera, J. H. (2007, August 2). Mangroves, fishponds, and the quest for sustainability. The Philippine Star, pp. B-6, B-7.