Mangrove Swamp Forest Reserve

Overview

Mangrove Swamp Forest Reserve is a protected natural area on Pangangan Island in the municipality of Calape, northwestern Bohol, designated in 1981. It is listed in the provincial tourist-attraction inventory under Nature / Other Natural Attractions.

The reserve’s core is the mangrove buffer planted along the Pangangan Island Causeway, which connects the island to the Calape mainland at barangay San Isidro–Lawis. Planting began in the late 1950s, led by local school principal Felipe Josol Ytac Sr. and his students, and was expanded into an annual community activity from 1961 by his successor, Anastacio Toloy. By 1982 the plantation covered roughly 6 hectares along 2.5 km of causeway; today it has grown to an estimated 54 hectares protecting both sides of the crossing. Species recorded include Rhizophora stylosa (the original planted species), Avicennia marina, Sonneratia alba, and a locally noted bakauan hybrid.

[TO ENRICH: wildlife/bird species observed, current management authority, formal access rules or permits]

Location

Pangangan Island, Calape, Bohol. Pangangan Island lies off the northwestern coast of Bohol, connected to Calape town proper by the Pangangan Causeway.

Getting There

Calape is approximately 40 km northwest of Tagbilaran City. From Tagbilaran, take a bus or jeepney toward Tubigon and alight at Calape. Pangangan Island is reached by road via the 3.5 km Pangangan Causeway from barangay San Isidro–Lawis — no boat crossing is required to reach the island itself.

Practical Info

• Currency: PHP
• Language: Cebuano, Filipino, English
• [TO ENRICH: entry fee, guide requirement, operating hours, permit needed]

What to Expect

A mangrove forest reserve lining the Pangangan Causeway on an island setting. Planted originally to buffer the causeway roadway from storm surge and wave action, the stand has since matured into habitat that supports coastal fisheries and shoreline stability in its own right — a rare case in Bohol of engineered infrastructure planting becoming a formally designated nature reserve.

[TO ENRICH: walkway or boardwalk, bird species, fish species, tour operators offering access]

Notes

• Listed in BPTO provincial tourist-attraction inventory under Nature / Other Natural Attractions
• Gateway municipality: Calape (nearest NW port: Tubigon)
• Saving the Pangangan Island Causeway, accessed 2026-07-17.
• panggangan island – the pauses between, accessed 2026-07-17.