Ecoteneo underscores importance of Davao Gulf’s reefs

A LOCAL environment group reiterates the importance of Davao Gulf and its coral reefs amid the continued call of property owners for the realignment the Samal Island-Davao City (SIDC) Connector Bridge Project.

On Monday, May 22, the director of Ecoteneo Carmela Santos emphasized that Davao Gulf’s coral reefs play a key role in maintaining the local ecosystem that in turn benefits the healthy biodiversity and food production in the region.

In line with preserving the Paradise Reef, which is in danger of being damaged by the SIDC Bridge construction, Santos cited that degradation of coral reef ecosystems is attributed to decline of fishing productivity.

“We are not saying to save the corals just for the corals itself, but we also rely on the corals for our food supply… If we really want to look out for our families and feed our families, we cannot afford to kill any more corals,” Santos said during the Kapehan sa Dabaw media forum.

She added that coral reefs are also important for climate survival since it acts as a natural barrier to storm surges and coastal erosion.

In a previous report of SunStar Davao, the century-old Paradise Reef in the Island Garden City of Samal (Igacos) has a fish abundance of 1,161 fish per 1,000 square meters. It also has fish biomass of 21 metric tons per square kilometer.

Based on the study commissioned by the Lucas-Rodriguez family, who owns the Paradise Park and Beach Resort where the said reef is located, the reef site is also home to various species of seagrass, seaweed, and aquatic macro-invertebrates.

When asked about their position on the balance of infrastructure development and environmental protection, Santos said that the environment should not be sacrificed for development.

“When you say equating environmentalists to anti-development, I think it’s the other way around. Pursuing the kind of development that is destroying the environment is anti-development,” she said.

Ecoteneo and other environmental groups have previously clarified their stand on the SIDC Bridge, emphasizing that they do not oppose the bridge rather they advocate for the realignment to avoid damaging the Paradise Reef coral ecosystem.

On May 16, regional director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Davao Region (DENR-Davao) Bagani Evasco, said the Lucas-Rodriguez family filed a petition to the Supreme Court last February challenging the SIDC bridge.

“(The cases) was already filed previously at the Court of Appeals and it was dismissed due to fatality defective and without respect to the higher court because it was not on the process filed by Municipal Trial Court and Regional Trial Court,” Evasco said during his privilege speech before the Davao City Council.

The Supreme Court has yet to make a decision on the petition of the family. /