Environmental planning: Livable City and extinction
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Livable City and Extinction
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Environmental planning: Livable City and extinction
- 1. A Paper On Liveable Cities and Extinction Liceo de Cagayan University In partial fulfilment of the course Environmental Planning Dr. Romeo M. del Rosario Professor – Environmental Planning (EPM) Submitted By: Purito M. Velez April 9, 2016
- 2. Liveable Cities and Extinction Humans share the planets with millions of plant and animal species. Everything is connected one way or the other in a special way. It keeps the earth thriving. However, in just a few generations, we have lost many plants and animal species. Some have become endangered. Ultimately, human will the cause of its own endangerment and extinction, if it continuous its uncontrolled exploitation of the planet’s finite resource. It’s been said that no one cares until it’s too late. It is time to step up effort to manage our resource to meet the current needs as well as to provide for the future generations. If we don’t act now, we will not be able to provide for the future. In the late 70’s, I regularly see local residents drying whale share meat along the national highway along Misamis Oriental. A popular restaurant in Talisayan even display a photo of a whale shark carcass. It was only lately that the see the potential of the whale share to generate income for the residents through eco-tourism. They have seen how eco-tourism improve the plight of the residents in Cebu, Dumaguete, Bohol and Bicol. Eco-tourism if manage properly can preserve the ecosystem and at the same time provide stable income to the residents. If our resources are not manage properly this will mean habitat loss, habitat degradation, introduction of diseases and parasites, exacerbation of the effects of climate change and the extinction and endangerment of several species as well humans itself. Biodiversity place a very important role in conservation. It should be taken into consideration. Biodiversity actually boost the ecosystem. Each species , no matter how small have an important role to play in our ecosystem. It’s been said that at least 40 percents of the world’s economy and 80 percent of the needs are derived from biological resources. The richer the diversity, the greater the opportunity for discoveries in medicine, economic development and adaptive response to climate change. There are numerous human activities the influence the extinction and endangerment of several species. One of the reasons is unsustainable hunting and harvesting that eventually causes increase death rates which exceeds the ability of a species to recuperate. A good example of this the extinction of the dodo birds. Almost everyone is familiar with the story of the dodo. These are flightless birds that was hunted to extinction by humans only about 100 years. The Tasmanian tiger of Australia and Tasmania became extinct in 1930’s due to overhunting. Some have become endangered due to overhunting.
- 3. Another contributing major factor is our different land use practices, such as deforestation, urban and suburban development, inappropriate agricultural cultivation and improper water management projects that encroach upon and destroys natural habitats. This is where environmental planning plays a major role in arresting the ill effects of our different land use practices. This is also why the government is mainstreaming climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction into the comprehensive land use plan. All local government in the Philippines are required to have their own updated comprehensive land use plan. The CLUP also takes into consideration protection of the forest, food security, sea and water resources. The CLUP should result into a zoning ordinance. We should view everything like an ecosystem. Everything is interrelated in one way or the other. Erosion in the upland will result to lower land productivity. Lower land productivity will affect the food security. In the early 90’s there were a lot of conversion of agricultural lands into commercial and residential. This land are now vast industrial, commercial and residential areas. I have seen this along the South Luzon Express Highway. This is one of the reasons why we cant be self sufficient in rice. Most of this land are rice land. The primary problem is in the implementation. A certain municipality in Misamis Oriental built its new municipal hall on an agricultural protected area without clearance from Department of Agriculture and Department of Agrarian Reform. Another municipality allowed the construction of a resort without an ECC and clearance. It is located in a protected area. A six months study on what cause Sendong, have shown how big agricultural companies have encroached in Mt Kitanglad range, which is a protected area. This big multinational plantation have destroyed forest near Kitanglad range cause lost of habitat, soil erosion, lowers land productivity due to their use of strong chemicals and fertilizers. Some municipalities in Bukidnon have issued a moratorium in the open and expansion of this monocrop plantation in Bukidnon. The intentional or unintentional introduction of destructive disease, parasites and predator can also contribute to the degradation of the ecosystem. The pre colonial inhabitants of America were almost wipe out by disease brought by the European colonizers. In the Philippines there is the introduction of kohol which turned out to be a pest. In Marikina river, we have the problem of introduced janitor fish which have become a pest. This invasive species are multiplying at a higher rate than the local wildlife. In some areas they have become a threat to the local wildlife. In the mid 80’s there was a vast promotion in planting gmelina trees as part of the national greening program. It turned out that this fast growing tree play a big factor in the depletion of our water resource.
- 4. Another factor is ecological damage cause by pollution in the water, air and soil. This is apparent in areas where mining is rampant like in CARAGA Region and in Zambales province. The government should practice responsible mining. They should only give permit to mining firms that practice responsible mining. The mining in Zambales have recently cause flooding in adjacent areas. In some mines, their mine tailing cause contamination of the soil and water. This threatens the health of the communities living near the area. A good example is the mine tailing spill that occurred in one of the mines of Philex Mines. This spill is considered as the worst mining disaster in the past two decades. Uncontrolled mining in the uplands of Opol and Cagayan de Oro contributed the degradation of the Iponan River. The relentless campaign of the new CLENRO have thankfully produced positive result. This case also shows that what happens in other area will result to disaster effects in another area. It is paramount to use the Ridge to River to Reef approach. In the case of Cagayan de Oro, illegal logging or mining in the uplands of Cagayan de Oro, Bukidnon and Lanao will definitely affect the low lands in Cagayan de Oro and Misamis Oriental. This activities contribute to soil erosion which degrade the productivity of the soil. This will endanger our food security. The erosion will also cause heavy siltation of the rivers and will result into urban flooding cause damage to property and loss of lives. Siltation will also affect the coral reefs and affect the productivity of our mariculture. This will result to reduction of fish harvest. In Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte, they have an extensive network of mangrove. They incorporate it with cash for work program. They also have a fishing ban for 3 day in a month. This sustainable practice in Kauswagan have brought praises for the 4th class municipality in Lanao. All of this will also affect the other services or source of income like eco-tourism. Another cause human caused global climate change. This may be alone or in combination. Without intervention, this will result in the further stress in the populaces. Climate change can also cause some disease to spread. A good example are disease carried by mosquitos and rats: Lyme disease, malaria, dengue and Zika have continue to haunt communities at risk. Most of these communities are usually from the poor sector. We may ask why? It is the poor who don’t have access to vital resource. They continue to live in areas at risk. Ergo, there is a primal need to address poverty. The poor would continue to think of survival first. If poverty is address they will have the “luxury” in doing what is necessary. That is one of the considerations in the Millennium Development Goals. Climate Change continue to threaten and exacerbate these losses through more droughts, typhoons and floods. According to a World Bank study, Climate change will push more than 100 million people further into poverty by 2030.
- 5. Everyone needs to reduce their own carbon foot print. We need to think globally while acting locally. We have enough laws and policies to address the need of our communities. The gap is the implementation side. That is where the challenge is. There is a lack of will to do the right and necessary thing. A good example is the no plastic policy and ordinance of Cagayan de Oro City. It have existed for more than a decade but was never implemented. There is an urgent need to translate this policies and laws in actual deeds. This may be done thru capacity building and conducting information and education campaign (IEC). In Gingoog City, their Solid Waste Management Ordinance was highly successful because before the implementation of the ordinance they conduct a massive and thorough information and education campaign down to the barangay. They also engages the different stakeholders in the community. Everybody understood why they need to comply and they know their role to improve the community. Today, Gingoog City’s Solid Waste Management Ordinance is a good model. Climate change and lack of environment planning have causes civilization and empires to flourish and some to collapse. A good example is the collapse of Inca civilization and what happened in Easter island. Easter Island used to have enough resources to support its resident. However, as they progress they have depleted their own resources for its survival. The Inca civilization used to be huge but with the onslaught of multiple strong droughts this cause upheaval in their civilization. Currently, they are saying that the upheaval is Syria is caused by climate change. Successive droughts in Syrian triggered the civil war. This devastating war later spread across the Middle East. Our forest and mangroves is constantly under threats. These threats are exacerbated by the ill effects of climate change. Climate change has resulted into the new normal. There are more frequent and increase intensity of the tropical storms. Northern Mindanao used to be typhoon free. This have also threatened our source of potable water. Malaybalay City Water District have recently rationed water, because of the depletion of its source. Baguio City Water District also rations water. Cebu City is experiencing shortage of potable water. How can a major city survive without potable water. In Las Vegas City, they have strict regulation on water used. Stiff fines are given to violators. They know that the survival of the city is dependent on the availability of water. Without water the vibrant city will not survive. There is an urgent need to act to reduce the ill effects of climate change in our communities. We need to reduce the impact of climate change on our forest and mangroves. This are very critical for local livelihood. We need to systematically indentify and address the
- 6. different climate change risk. We need to protect the native forest as well as to manage agro forestry in a sustainable and resilient way. We should promote a system that will combine the numerous agricultural and forestry technologies which will foster more productivity, diversity and sustainability of local livelihoods. I believe we have enough knowledge and relevant technology to address the ill effects. Ergo, I conclude that we need to share this vital knowledge and crucial relevant technology to address the ill effects of climate change and to make our communities more liveable. Our farmers should apply appropriate farming technology to increase productivity. They can combine long term crops and short term crops like peanuts. They can also include trees. The Department of Agriculture have a program on rubber, coffee and cacao. As a matter of fact, this program have been supported by some private companies like Nestle Philippines. I personally know some civil society organization that also promote. Ecosystem Works for Essential Benefits Incorporated, a CSO active in Lanao and Samar, have been empowering local communities in new farming technologies in an organic way. They also provide assistance to local farmers and community to make value added products so that they can maximize their products. Their efforts had made these communities more productive, resilient to effects of climate change, financially independent. Agricultural lands and the entire ecosystem needs to work together. The community needs to be capacitated on the proper land use and climate adaptation planning. This will help ensure a surplus for self consumption and for sale. Last March, I had the opportunity to go to Barangay Tangclao in Poona Piagapo, Lanao del Norte. I have seen how a proper implementation of the plans and policies can directly impact the community. It takes 3 days by foot to go to this barangay. Now with proper planning it now takes 1 hour and a half. Involvement of the different stakeholders also resulted to positive changes in the community. Sustainable agricultural projects help the local farmers. It helped reduce the cost of products because of the PAMANA funded roads. This also helped reduced tension between the government and the MILF/MNLF sympathizers in the area. The Philippines needs to adapt to the changing weather patterns in order to boost their harvest and improve access to markets more quickly. Maybe our indigenous people (IP) got it right. They believe that we are just steward of the place that we live in. They only get what they can consume. The wrong environmental plan and haphazard implementation will eventually result to possible environmental and social disaster. The ill effects will mostly affect the vulnerable sector in our communities like the poor, persons with disability, elderly, women and children.
- 7. It is, however, vital that we acknowledge that there is a problem. If we don’t acknowledge the problem, we won’t feel the urgency to act. We need to embrace the new normal and adapt or else we go in the way of dinosaurs and dodos. There are several options. We can have a soft and hard approach. Soft measures are the establishment of appropriate laws and policies. Hard approaches may consist of construction of vital infrastructures and capacity building activities for the different stakeholders in the community. We should also apply the principle of building back better. It is vital to involve the different stakeholders in the community. This will give the stakeholders a sense of ownerships of the plans and programs created. This is what they did in Gingoog City. That is why their solid waste management program is highly successful. The stakeholders can also vet the proposed plans and programs. We see rapid and unregulated urbanization and effects of climate change. We see more frequent and more intense effects of disaster. All of this have adverse effects on the vulnerable sectors previously mentioned. One of the most effective tool to promote a liveable city is proper land use plan and environmental planning that incorporates climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. This will also translate to increase health and safety in cities. Strict implementation of the different laws like the building code will make the cities more liveable. There is however good news. We have a unique opportunity to create a safer, more resilient and more liveable city through effective use of land use, effective implementation of building regulations. If we take advantage of this window of opportunity, we can design and build cities that are very responsive to the multitudes of challenges facing a modern city. This includes disaster risk reduction and other chronic hazards like fire, health problems and others. Major international development partners like UNDP, World Bank, together with national and local governments, private sector, civil society and other stakeholders in the community have come together to assist in addressing these challenges that we face. This shows that a combination of governance reforms at the national and local levels, capacity building efforts to the decision makers and stakeholders and the establishment of transparent and accountable processes are effective in making communities/cities more resilient to mitigate disaster risk and making it more liveable. It should strongly emphasise the inclusion of local culture, economic and social factors into the plans, programs and strategy. The plans, programs and strategies should keep in pace with fast developing cities. This are critical methods to protect the lives and livelihoods in our communities and cities. We should prevent
- 8. the development gains from crumbling or to be washed away by disaster. If we take all of this into account we can build a safe, more resilient, sustainable and liveable community. This may be a daunting task but it can be done.