To remove the Philippines from the list of world’s biodiversity hot spots, Senator Cynthia A. Villar wants to include more protected areas (PA) through legislation.
Villar, chairman of the Senate committee on environment and natural resources, said there are still many places in the country experiencing high rates of habitat degradation and biodiversity loss.
In her opening remarks during the Senate hearing on the country’s PAs, Villar lamented that hot spots have lost around 86 percent of their original habitat. “Hot spots are also considered to be significantly threatened due to man-made exploitation and by climate change,” said Villar.
“Hence, there are still many areas in the country, such as wetlands, marine sanctuaries, tropical forests, watersheds, wildlife sanctuaries, among others, that remain underprotected and one certain way of affording protection to these areas is by designating them as PAs through legislation,” she added.
The senator noted that adding more protected areas becomes even more urgent and relevant now due to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, which runs from 2021 to 2030.
This was declared so that all nations can massively scale up the restoration of destroyed ecosystems.
This is the opportune time, Villar said, to discuss the merits of the seven bills on six proposed protected areas.
The following bills are:
- Bill expanding the area of an existing legislated PA;
- Senate Bill (SB) No. 354 and SB No. 1259 referring to the Paoay Lake Protected Landscape in Ilocos Norte;
- SB No. 1536 referring to the expansion of the Las Piñas-Parañaque Wetland Park, a protected area in Las Piñas and Parañaque;
- SB No. 1691, which refers to the San Francisco Protected Landscape (commonly known as the Mulanay Watershed Forest Reserve) in Quezon Province;
- SB No. 1725 referring to the Alibijaban Protected Landscape and Seascape also in Quezon Province;
- SB No. 355 referring to the Taklong and Tandog Group of Islands Natural Park in Guimaras; and
- SB No. 517, which refers to the Bantayan Group of Islands Protected Landscape and Seascape in Cebu.
Villar recalled that during the 17th Congress, she strongly pushed for the passage of RA No. 11038 or the ENIPAS Act of 2018, which strengthened the legal framework for the establishment, management and maintenance of all designated PAs.
“The Expanded NIPAS Act of 2018 facilitated the legislation of 94 more PAs, in addition to the 13 PAs individually legislated under the original NIPAS law or RA No. 7586,” she said.
In the 18th Congress, 7 more areas were declared protected which brought to a total of 114 PAs in the Philippines. -30-