City to plant mangroves to thwart storm surges

CITING mangroves as effective buffers against storm surges, the Cebu City Council wants the city government to study where to put up mangrove reforestation projects in the city’s coastal areas.

The City Council passed a resolution requesting the Cebu City Coastline Management Board to assess areas which are suitable for planting mangroves, or which coastal areas need rehabilitation.

The resolution is City Hall’s response to President Aquino’s order to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to undertake a comprehensive program for environmental protection, including the establishment of “no-build zones” on coastlines and the restoration of mangrove forests.

Cebu City has at least 16 coastal barangays.

“It is important to study if these areas are still suitable for planting mangroves,” Councilor Alvin Dizon said.

The City Council is giving the coastline management board 15 days to submit their findings.

Dizon cited that during the 4th Asean Heritage Parks Conference, mangroves were declared as the Philippines’ best hope for mitigating climate change. This is because it acts as barriers or natural seawalls that protect coastal communities from tsunamis and storm surges which are now more common due to climate change. It also acts as a buffer for sea level rise, a phenomenon also linked to climate change. Mangroves are also said to be good at capturing carbon, a major greenhouse gas that causes global warming. The same conference also revealed that the original 500,000 hectares of mangroves was reduced to 100,000 hectares or less due to coastal development, land conversion and reclamation.