Quo Vadis, Manila Bay?

By: C-Help Team

Manila Bay, known for its beautiful sunset, and historical significance, is also revered for its socio-economic importance and tourism value.

 

The proximity of Manila, the country’s capital city to the bay, boosted the country’s tourism value, with airports and seaports strategically positioned around this vast body of water that stretches from Cavite to Bataan.

 

Not to be overlooked is the coastal and marine ecosystem importance of Manila Bay – making it an important source of income and livelihood for millions of Filipinos.

Land reclamation, seabed quarrying

Unfortunately, Manila Bay is under serious threat anew, with more than 20 land reclamation projects waiting for the green light to resume activities.  So far, two land reclamation projects – both in Pasay City – have already been “exempted” from a blanket verbal suspension order from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last year.  With land reclamation, seabed quarrying – also in Manila Bay follows, as contractors of these projects would need filling materials for the dump-and-fill activities for what are described as “island reclamations” in Manila Bay.

 

Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) was quoted in news reports that the cumulative assessment of the agency mandated to manage the country’s natural wealth and its panel of experts would soon come up with its final report.

 

No less than Yulo-Loyzaga, the country’s chief steward of the environment and natural resources, bared changes observed in Manila Bay following reclamation projects that had been conducted before the suspension order.  In summary, she said reclamation projects will slow down the flow of water and will change the circulation and retention of pollutants and organic materials that are already in the bay. This doesn't include yet what will be coming from the inland. The pronouncement was made amid the severe flooding and fear of a worst-case scenario should the Manila Bay reclamation projects be allowed to proceed.

 

Not only does this entail threats to the worsening of flood, but also to the protected areas in the Bay such as the wetlands and the mangroves.

 

Wetlands

The Ramsar Convention defines wetlands as “areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water.

 

There are three categories of wetlands in the Philippines:  Inland or freshwater wetlands that include lakes, swamps, marshes, rivers, natural pools, streams and peatlands; man-made that include reservoirs and dams or water storage areas, fishponds, saltpans, wastewater ponds, and rice paddies; and coastal or marine wetlands – including coral reefs seagrass beds, salt marshes, estuaries, tidal flats, lagoons and mangrove areas – of which Manila Bay and the famous Las Pi ñas-Parañaque-Wetland Park (LPPWP) belongs.

 

The enormous benefits of healthy, undisturbed wetlands, can never be overemphasized, especially for a country that is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change-triggered extremes such as super typhoons, sea-level rise, and storm surges, as they offer a cost-effective alternative to engineering measures for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, according to the Philippine Clearing House Mechanism, which was established to facilitate the sharing of data and information on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity between and among the various stakeholders of the country.

 

Mangroves

Mangroves are a group of trees and shrubs that live in the coastal intertidal zone.  They are one of the major habitats in Manila Bay.

 

Mangroves provide economically viable fish and other seafood protection against predators, allowing them to grow and in time, fend off for themselves.  Aside from fish, crabs and shells can be abundantly found in a healthy mangrove forest.

 

Around Manila Bay mangroves provide both ecological and socioeconomic uses, offering communities a way of life, and fishers an alternative source of income and livelihood.

 

They also provide migratory birds a haven as these mangroves provides a playground, breeding, and feeding ground but also some level of protection from various threats - including hunters.

Mangroves, like wetlands, also provide coastal communities a natural defense against calamities

They act as natural barriers against storm surges, tsunamis, and coastal erosion. Their complex root systems absorb and dissipate wave energy, protecting shorelines and reducing the impact of natural disasters on coastal communities.

 

Also, mangroves improve water quality by filtering pollutants and trapping sediments from rivers keeping the adjacent coral reefs and seagrass beds.

 

Sadly, of the original 54,000 hectares of mangroves existing at the turn of the 20th century, only 794 hectares are remaining as recorded by the Forest Management Bureau (FMB) in 1995.

 

These are even more threatened by the reclamation projects now crowding Manila Bay.

 

International treaties

Manila Bay is a wetland of international importance, and one of the seven (7) Ramsar Sites in the Philippines can be found in Manila Bay – the LPPWP.

Wetlands of international importance are declared so because they provide migratory birds that escape the cold during winter. The Philippines, an Important Bird Area (IBA), is one of the 23 East Asian-Australasian Flyway countries and is an important feeding, breeding, and staging ground for migrating birds that are escaping the cold winter for their survival.

 

The East Asian-Australasian Flyway is the most densely populated in the world, supporting almost 2 billion people.  Around 600 bird species travel across 37 countries from Alaska to Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

 

The Philippines is committed to implementing both national and international laws that protect wildlife, including the Convention on Biological Diversity.

 

It is also a signatory to the Ramsar Convention.  As a Contracting Party of the Ramsar Convention, the Philippines has committed to conserve and promote the wise use of wetlands.

Meanwhile, as a party to the Bonn Convention, or the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, which includes migratory birds.  The international treaty aims to conserve terrestrial, marine, and avian migratory species throughout their range.

 

Manila Bay is already vulnerable and land reclamation projects and seedbed quarrying, plus the continuing plastic pollution that is threatening this vast body of water would only make the situation even worse.

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