Gov’t to draft zoning plan for Manila Bay

01/06/2009

The River Basin Control Office (RBCO) will spearhead this January and February multi-sectoral consultations on the proposed zoning of Manila Bay, a major Philippine economic and cultural resource.

“Our consultations aim to harmonize the integrated coastal management (ICM) plans of communities along Manila Bay so these can be inputed to the proposed zoning plan for this water body,” said RBCO executive director Dr. Vicente Tuddao Jr.

This zoning plan will designate water uses for specific parts of the bay and will identify sites where mangroves can be developed.

Such plan will help authorities sustainably manage Manila Bay and protect it from further degradation, Tuddao noted.

A 2005 economic valuation study, Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA), reported human damages to Manila Bay’s eco-systems and said the resulting socio-economic impact of such destruction amount to almost P4 billion yearly.

This is half of the more than P8 billion estimated annual total value covering use of Manila Bay’s resources for fisheries, aquaculture, tourism and shipping as well as benefits from its mangroves, coral reefs and mudflats, the PEMSEA noted.

The PEMSEA said damages to Manila Bay including water pollution’s morbidity cost (P15.75 million) and mortality cost (P309.48 million), groundwater over-extraction (P81.62 million), mangrove loss since 1995 (P18.59 million) and harmful algal bloom (P3.55 billion).

The causes of the damage include water quality deterioration, erosion and siltation, over-exploitation of fishery resources, biodiversity loss and habitat degradation.

Tuddao opined that harmonizing ICM plans of local governments concerned will help government deal with such causes.

The PEMSEA is also recommending immediate zoning of Manila Bay and its watershed areas, which includes primate urban center National Capital Region, to help address these concerns particularly as the organization said population there is growing by 300,000 to 400,000 annually.

Earlier studies show Manila Bay watershed is home to around 30 percent of the Philippine population and accounts for as much as 52.5 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, PEMSEA said.

For the upcoming consultations, Tuddao said the RBCO will use as a working document the draft Manila Bay zoning plan authorities prepared earlier.

He also said the PEMSEA will join the discussions as consultant.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources coastal management unit and the local governments concerned are asked to provide inputs during the discussions for Manila Bay’s proposed zoning, he added. PNA

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