DENR restores Yolanda-hit mangrove forests

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has rehabilitated close to 30,000 hectares of mangrove and beach forests damaged by Super Typhoon Yolanda, an official said yesterday.

DENR Secretary Ramon Paje said the rehabilitation effort was part of the government’s National Greening Program.

“We finished the upland rehabilitation consisting of 29,093 hectares…we still have to do a lot of clearing along the coastlines before we establish the mangrove plantations,” he said.

The DENR has earmarked P347 million for the project. The rehabilitation program covers the worst hit areas in Eastern Visayas.  Aside from Tacloban City and Dulag town in Leyte, the municipalities of Guiuan, Llorente and Balangiga in Eastern Samar are covered by the project.

“We will complete the balance of 16,087 hectares of mangrove areas next year,” Paje said.

He said the rehabilitation’s main objective is to “restore the region’s degraded coastal forests to make its coastlines less vulnerable to extreme weather events.”

“It is clear in the law that we cannot allow people to build houses in areas for mangroves and beach forest,” said Paje, referring to Presidential Decree 1067, also known as the Philippine Water Code.

He said the affected coastlines were converted into settlement areas by informal settlers or for development activities.

The target is to plant 19 million seedlings in 1,900 hectares of coastlines.