Villar pushes wetland protection measures

Sen. Cynthia Villar is pushing for measures that would raise awareness on the role and importance of wetlands as “cradle of biodiversity.”

At the 8th Wetland Link International-Asia Conference (8WLI-Asia) held at the Villar SIPAG, Villar told participants that her “proposed measure aims to guide all concerned national government agencies and local government units to adjust the policies consistent with wetland conservation and wise use.”

She was referring to Senate Bill 124 or the National Wetlands Conservation bill she filed at the opening of the 19th Congress.

Villar has also been pursuing the establishment of buffer zones around Manila Bay waters and opposing reclamation to avert the destruction of Las Piñas-Parañaque Wetland Park.

She acknowledged that the Philippines still has much work to do “to give our wetlands the care and support they deserve.”

“With our country’s archipelagic nature, we have an abundant number of wetlands that call for much-needed attention,” said Villar, chairperson of the Senate committee on environment.

The 2016 Atlas of Philippine Inland Wetlands and Classified Caves has identified 314 inland wetlands and 2,487 river systems in the country. Of the wetlands, 221 are lakes, 12 are marshes and swamps, nine are peatlands, 39 are water storage, and 31 are ponds.

She said the Las Piñas-Parañaque Wetland Park is home to 84 species of migratory and resident birds, like the endemic Philippine Duck, Chinese Egret, Black-winged Stilts. The park is also listed in the Ramsar Convention as Wetland of International Importance.

Villar thanked the Society for the Conservation of Philippine Wetlands, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the National Capital Region, Ramsar Regional Center for East Asia, and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust UK for bringing the 8WLI-Asia to the Philippines.