P347 M earmarked for restoration of mangrove forests in Visayas
he government will earmark at least million for the restoration of mangrove and natural beach forests in coastal areas hit by uper yphoon olanda.
nvironment and atural esources ecretary amon aje said this massive coastal rehabilitation program would cover astern isayas, particularly the province of eyte and its capital acloban ity.
acloban is a major concern, but the undertaking will cover the entire eastern seaboard of astern isayas,” aje said, adding that the project s main objective is to protect the region s coastlines from extreme weather events.
he law says we cannot allow people to build houses in areas meant for mangroves and beach forests,” he said, referring to the hilippine ater ode.
he chief said the situation in the astern isayas requires political will from local government officials.
e said the affected coastlines were once mangroves and beach forests that were turned into residential areas by informal settlers or for development activities.
ad the mangroves in eyte and astern amar not been decimated, the storm surge would have been dissipated by to percent of its strength,” aje said, citing a study by the epartment of cience and echnology which states that the strength of an eight- meter storm surge is concentrated within the lower six meters, with the upper two meters as only having tidal currents.”
he surge can only destroy the leaves, but cannot uproot the mangroves as these are deep-rooted and strong. hey will re- grow in time,” said aje.
e said mangroves should not be destroyed, as these are natural barriers against tsunamis, storm surge and other wave action.
nder the plan, some million seedlings and propagules from mangrove trees and beach forest species like talisay will be planted in over , hectares of coastline under the ational reening rogram.
About percent of the allocation will be used for the government s cash-for-work program for typhoon survivors who will take part in seedling production, planting site preparation, actual planting and maintenance of mangrove and beach forest areas.”
oastal green belts would be done in clusters to allow fisher folk access to the shores, as well as to other sustainable activities like ecotourism and coastal management.
ther areas covered by the coastal rehabilitation plan are the towns of ulag in eyte uiuan, lorente and alangiga in astern amar, and asey in amar.
e said the budget proposal is awaiting approval by the ational conomic and evelopment Authority.
arlier, resident Aquino ordered aje to create a comprehensive environment protection program that would minimi e the impact of storm surge, flooding and calamities following olanda s devastation.