There is trouble over at the quaint coastal city of Parañaque. Bird watchers and nature lovers belonging to the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines, or WBCP, are vehemently protesting the environmental clearance reportedly released to a new land-development project in the area by the state-run Philippine Reclamation Authority.
The new reclamation project, the club claims, will practically “obliterate” the Parañaque Coastal Lagoon, which has been officially declared as the Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area under Executive Order 1492 by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
I lived in Parañaque, at the eastern side, for over 30 years and never knew there was such an officially declared ecotourism area at the western side of the city. In detailing the location of the habitant, the club says that if one drives on the Coastal Road to Cavite, or visits the old dampa market serving freshly cooked seafood, then the habitat is the patch of green not too far in the bay that is frequented by birds.
In a statement published on its web site, the WBCP criticized the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) for allowing the reclamation of the lagoon area, noting that “some people just don’t know a good thing when they have it. And too bad they’re in a government agency tasked with protecting that one good thing.”
WBCP noted that the Coastal Lagoon would normally host more than 5,000 birds during migratory-bird season, including more than 1 percent of the global population of Common Greenshank and more than 10 percent of the global population of black-winged Stilts. Thus, upon the recommendation of the late Environment secretary Angelo Reyes, then-President Arroyo had declared the site a critical habitat and ecotourism area.
“But, of course, it is not entirely out of the goodness of politicians’ hearts that such environmentally enlightened acts occur. In this case, it was a confluence of science, advocacy and timing that brought this about. The decision was timely, and also almost too late, as Metro Manila had long been losing its natural spaces. The coast along Manila Bay had already lost its natural capacity to clean itself due to the loss of mangrove stands to reclamation, fishponds and settlements,” the club said.
“The Coastal Lagoon is, therefore, important, not only for bird watchers, but for the rest of Metro Manila. As a mangrove wetland, it provides a buffer from storm surges, nurseries for fish and other coastal wildlife, and a permeable surface to absorb and process toxins from both sea and land. And in the past years, it has provided Metro Manilans a delightful break from the incessant assault of concrete wastelands that have become poor substitutes for an authentically uplifting bayside view,” it added.
It also noted that if the new reclamation project would cut sea access to the islands that form the Coastal Lagoon, then it would also destroy the area that produce the food that birds eat. The invertebrates, shells and other mollusks would then disappear, and thus perish a very important “hotel and restaurant stopover” for migratory birds.
In an e-mail comment to the WBCP statement, one environmental advocate said the people of Parañaque and Las Piñas should also be consulted on the reclamation project, especially those who had been displaced from the coastal area during the Marcos administration and who had been given only a 25-year lease by the Cory Aquino administration to stay near the fish market.
This being the case, he said, perhaps public hearings should also be held by the city councils of Parañaque and Las Piñas.
WBCP also noted that in November 2009, the Department of Tourism already listed the Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area as a primary bird-watching site in the book Birdwatching in the Philippines Volume 1, which was promoted at the World Travel Mart in London in August 2010, and at the Taipei International Birdwatching Fair in November 2010.
“It is unfortunate it is the DENR itself that is undoing the good work that it had done through its National Capital Region office and its very own PAWB. Perhaps, it would like to be the laughingstock of the rest of Asia? If the DENR secretary and the EMB, and now the Philippine Reclamation Authority, now armed with an ECC approving the reclamation, will not be stopped, tourists will be regaled with a very good view of parking lots and a casino. Not very good for an ecotourism site,” it added.
In fairness to the developers, WBCP said they tried to reassure bird watchers that the bird-watching station would not be touched, and that the road they would build over the site would even “enhance” the bird-watching experience by providing a viewing area. Club members, however, appear unconvinced.
Perhaps, further consultations are in order. While one can understand the economic value created by land development, maybe there is no harm in taking extra precautions to ensure that critical habitat will remain undisturbed. Effort should be taken to consider a middle-ground compromise is win-win for all.
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