A summer well lived

It has been many years ago since I first saw the archipelago of the Northern Mariana Islands in a travel catalog, tucked away in a cabinet of my grandmother’s décor and family pictures display. I must admit, I did doubt the existence of Saipan several times. Finally, seven years ago, I returned to this blessed and beautiful island where I discovered the other side of my family. I remember the first time I enjoyed the marine and terrestrial vista of this limestone island—it was clean and pristine indeed. Growing up as a child in the Philippines, my grandmother set a good example for me in good housekeeping. Through these experiences, awareness of and consideration for our environment’s conditions became a part of my consciousness. My very first community service here on Saipan was cleaning up the beach at the back of my former middle school, Hopwood Junior High School. From that day on, whenever I had an opportunity to help our land and water ecosystems, such as village cleanups and mangrove planting at the American Memorial Park, I had been on the move.

It is a privilege for me to be a part of the 8th Annual Coral Reef Initiative Summer Internship Program. I applied for the CRI Internship because I agreed with its mission and commitment in the good stewardship of our islands’ coral reefs, coastal lands/waters and the resources therein. It is even more of an honor for me to be the assigned intern at the Permitting branch of the CNMI Coastal Resources Management Office, which is presided over by one of the veterans of the agency, Ms. Ana C. Agulto. Her knowledge, words, wisdom, and example have helped me to better appreciate and execute my part in providing better care to our islands’ bionetworks.

During the first two weeks of the internship, I read through the fundamentals of the CRM regulations and studied its terminology as well. From that early part of the internship and onwards, I have gradually comprehended what I have been studying through asking questions of my mentor and co-mentors and going out into the field and seeing/inspecting first-hand the minor and/or major sites that have already been given permits, under the process of being given a permit, or are possible candidates in applying for a permit. Issuing permits is not something to be taken lightly. In the words of my mentor: “You don’t just give a permit for the sake of giving a permit.”

On the 20th of June, I had my very first opportunity to see, and participate in a reef flat survey at Bird Island. In this reef flat survey, I learned how to collect information about the numbers and types of algae and invertebrates, which we identified with the help of our Marine Monitoring Team: David Benavente and Rodney Camacho. The following Friday, July 1, we had two other reef flat surveys that we conducted at Pak Pak Beach in San Antonio and in Susupe Beach Park. Our supervisor, Mr. John Iguel of DEQ, helped my group mates and I examine the information from the seagrass habitats. In these surveys, we named and tallied up a few more types of algae also. The next Friday, my mentor took us interns to Managaha where she taught us how to profile beaches based on the measurements of the elevations of the sand so we can determine the erosion and the deposition levels of the sand, and to also check on the progress of the recovery and re-vegetation of the northwestern part of the sand cay. This is important so we can know the reason behind the shifting of the sand to and from its original setting and how it affects Managaha.

During the last two weeks, the CRM and WIA interns cleaned and painted the bus stop in front of our office. We hope that this will motivate people to take care of the bus stops and to take into heart what the CRM bus stop will display in form of a mural, which was drafted by Aaron Tomokane, an alumnus of Kagman High School.

I am currently still in the stage of making my one major project which is the analysis and the graphing of the permit index since the founding of CRM. My project will display the total number of permits issued within the three decades, which then will divide into which were issued for APCs, which were determined as major sitings, and what type of industry did a particular major siting was categorized under. Through this project, I will also be able to determine when the economy of the CNMI was at its peak.

When we do something for our Earth, whether it is negative or positive, minor or major, sooner or later, we will suffer or benefit from our actions. If it will not be us, then the ones who will reap the harvest will be our descendants. “Whatever we shall sow, we shall reap” (Galatians 6:7).