BAGUIO City councilors are in unison on a tree-cutting moratorium for the city.
Councilor Arthur Allad-iw, co-author of the five-year halt in tree chopping, said the city will revisit the development and land use plan of the city including the residential land areas conversion to commercial, where most of the cutting of trees is rampant.
On the heels of the cutting of over 100 trees by Vista Land Incorporated and the Philippine Military Academy with an impending chopping of 75 trees from Moldex Reality, moves are being made to preserve what is left of forest covers.
Allad-iw said the time will also be used to fix the policies attuned to pro-sustainable and ecological conservation of the city.
“The forest cover is below the standard of 40 percent for a balanced environment. Likewise, that statutory-mandated consultation to stakeholders and endorsement by the Council concerned to any projects affecting the environment must be observed as a requirement of approval of the said project by the concerned agencies,” the alderman said.
Baguio’s land area of 5,750 hectares is composed of a watershed, forest, civil and military reservations covering an area of 1,400 hectares with 700 trees while townsite, residential, central business district and commercial areas cover 4,300 hectares with 800 trees.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said most of the remaining trees in the city are set on private and titled land with a few resting on government lots, school compounds and road right of way.
DENR recommended to the City Council the zoning approach in preserving the remaining forest covers and tree count of the city, which sets tree locations in forest reservations and watersheds, public parks and government lots and compounds.
DENR also broached to the City Government to acquire and buy out private lands with trees as well as grant tax incentives or annual environmental cash subsidies to private landowners with maintained tree covers.
Crafting an ordinance relating to advisory and guidelines to private landowners as to landscape management and consistent with a moratorium on tree removal in cases of death, posing danger, obstruction to development was also suggested by DENR.
Included in the DENR recommendations are the identification of green zones and safeguarded lots within each barangay (as a city needs for environmental amelioration) as specific purpose for location trees, small watershed and plazas and proper maintenance of planted trees (assign government offices in both local and national) to maintain specific areas likened to the “Adopt a Park” program.
The environment department also urges the City Government may also recommend for the award of applied lots for residential areas to be limited only to a maximum of 500 square meters with retained lots to be identified as city needs for environmental amelioration and protection.
Private lands with more than 500 square meters must allocate 30 percent of their land space to appropriate green cover.
Lastly, all infrastructure development plants passing through the city building official and the city engineer’s office should include evaluation of the land space and other consequential impacts, such as tree cutting, before the same be subjected to the DENR permitting and environmental impact evaluation.
“Trees are really the hallmark of Baguio. In the last session, I was asking Vista if the development plan could be configured to spare the remaining trees. According to them, the remaining trees are in the slopes and in a precarious condition,” Councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda said.
Tabanda added the City Buildings and Architecture Office was also asked to review building plans if the slopes are safe buildable areas.
The councilor said the impending cutting of Moldex for 75 more trees will also be checked.
“What is apparent is we need to reconcile the city policies with DENR policies,” Tabanda said.