A vulnerability study of the Manila Bay will be carried out as part of preserving mudflats, coral

reefs, and mangroves from threats of climate change, waste dumping and illegal settlement.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Ecosystems Research and Development

(DENR-ERDB) will conduct the 15-month vulnerability study of the Manila Bay along with the
Ramsar Convention-recognized wetland – the 175-hectare Las Piñas Parañaque Critical Habitat
Ecotourism Area (LPPCHEA).

ERDB Director Henry Adornado said the study includes inventory of biophysical information on
the bay.

“Part of the project is a study of the coastal and watershed areas in Manila Bay against selected
environmental hazards,” he said.

“Baseline data and information will be crucial in monitoring the progress of the implementation
of the newly adopted operational plan for the Manila Bay Coastal Strategy for 2017-2022,” he
added.

A total of 27 state agencies conducted a stock-taking workshop last month on the bay’s
rehabilitation status.

DENR Undersecretary Maria Paz Luna, in-charge of the Manila Bay rehabilitation, emphasized
the seriousness and urgency of the Bay’s cleanup, even if the original Supreme Court (SC)
decision mandating its cleanup was issued 10 years ago.

“To make sound decisions and policies for the Manila Bay Area, updated and consolidated
science-based information is crucial to identify and address current and potential issues and
problems,” ERDB Assistant Director Bighani Manipula said.

As the Philippines is a signatory to the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty to conserve

wetlands (lakes, rivers, aquifers, swamps, marshes, peatlands, oases, estuaries, deltas, tidal flats),
it is responsible for the preservation of the Las Piñas-Parañaque wetland.

LPPCHEA has been recognized as a wetland of global ecological importance, which as defined
by the Ramsar Convention, serves as habitat to at least 1 percent of population of any waterbird
species in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.

The wetland hosts the Chinese egret, known globally to be threatened; common greenshank; and
10 percent of the population of black-winged stilt.

It hosts around 41 species of migratory birds coming from China, Japan, and Siberia.

DENR said rare species of water birds, counting to 27 with an estimated 5,000 heads, are
found in it, which includes osprey, pied avocet, grey-tailed tattler, and Siberian rubythroat.

LPPCHEA is also the only known breeding area of the Philippine duck in the National
Capital Region, it added. The Philippine duck is listed as a vulnerable species by the
International Uni
RECLAMITION NA THREAT BEFOREE

But all this may change if the “Philippine Reclamation Authority or the PRA pushes through
with extensive reclamation and real estate development plans in that part of Manila Bay.”
According to Inquirer Opinion article by Liuag, the proposed Three Island Reclamation and
Development Project, a P14-billion joint venture of the PRA and Cyber Bay Corporation,
involves 635 hectares of upscale private residential, commercial and tourism estate. This project
is planned to be constructed just beside the LPPCHEA. The Wild Bird Club of the Philippines or
the WBCP is totally against this and continually defends the maintenance of the Habitat and
Ecotourism Area. The development plan not only will destruct the habitat and flyway of less than
a hundred birds, this can also destroy marine life and habitat and make a big number of fisher
folks and other lowly workers lose their source of income and livelihood.

ARCHITECTURAL PROBLEM

The governments plan on Las Piñas–Parañaque Critical Habitat and Eco-Tourism Area
(LPPCHEA) is to become an eco-tourism area that will open the critical to possible volume of
people. Specific Challenges like preserving the endangered birds and protecting the natural
system is at risk due to the tourism goal that they envision. These questioned architecture on how
it can innovate itself to adapt and sustain to the natural environmental context of the area and
how to harmonize the public demand for tourism without harming the ecological species’ terrain
of habitat.

ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT :

measures human demand on nature[2], i.e., the quantity of nature it takes to support people or an
economy. It tracks this demand through an ecological accounting system. The accounts contrast
the biologically productive area people use for their consumption to the biologically productive
area available within a region or the world (biocapacity, the productive area that can regenerate
what people demand from nature). In short, it is a measure of human impact on Earth's
ecosystem and reveals the dependence of the human economy on natural capital.
Footprint and biocapacity can be compared at the individual, regional, national or global scale.
Both footprint and biocapacity change every year with number of people, per person
consumption, efficiency of production, and productivity of ecosystems
About cythia villar

Senator Cynthia A. Villar, who has been leading the fight to protect and preserve the area, is now
promoting the concept “voluntourism” to increase awareness of this natural oasis amidst a highly
urbanized area.

“Apart from having leisurely walks along the coast and getting the chance to see colorful birds,
families, students, and communities can also do other activities such as coastal cleanups and tree-
planting activities at the wetland park,” Villar said.

Villar stressed that park is a critical site that needs special protection especially from man-made
threats. “Not only is it home to various species of birds, including the endangered Black-Winged
Stilt, Chinese Egret and the Philippine Duck, the area also serves as first-line of defense against
storm surges and other natural disasters.”
I. Legal Bases for the Existence of the Las Piñas – Parañaque Critical Habitat and
Ecotourism Area

1. Proclamations 1412 and 1412-A

In April 22, 2007, Proclamation 1412 was issued by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
“Establishing a Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area within the Coastal Lagoon of Las Piñas and
Parañaque”
In January 31, 2008, Proclamation 1412-A was issued amending Proclamation 1412. Among
its salient features is a directive to all relevant departments and instrumentalities under the
Executive Branch to cooperate and undertake steps within the scope of the Critical Habitat and
Ecotourism Area, such as:
a. Ensure that any reclamation in the periphery of the Las Piñas – Parañaque Critical
Habitat and Ecotourism Area shall not impede the ecological function of the lagoon and
its small island’s mangroves, salt marches and tidal areas as breeding, feeding and
roosting place for marine and terrestrial wildlife.
b. Undertake reclamation in nearby area in a way that would help restore and ensure
shellfish and fish productivity
c. Ensure existing mangrove, mudflats and ecosystems are preserved and/or not built over,
and are kept in a condition that will support natural growth of indigenous and or naturally
occurring wetland plants critical to the survival of wildlife and natural ecological
functions.
d. Ensure that biodiversity component is included and strengthened in all Environmental
Impact Assessments for development projects.
e. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources shall convene and Chair a
Manila Bay Critical Habitat Management Council composed of the following:
o Philippine Reclamation Authority, whose representative shall act as Vice Chair of the
Council
o NGOs with technical capacity and proven ecological biodiversity management
capability and track record in the area
o Department of Tourism
o City Governments of Las Piñas and Parañaque
o People’s organizations with a direct stake in the area