Missing the forest for the trees

It took fierce public outrage and sustained protests by environmental groups, fisherfolk groups, and organized youth for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to pause what people have described as the “massacre of trees” along Quirino Avenue in Manila.

The tree-cutting will make way for the Southern Access Link Expressway (SALEx) project that will connect to the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3. The Quirino Avenue SALEx segment will span 3.97 kilometers and feature four elevated lanes.

Over 225 trees have been felled, with the DENR permit indicating that a total of 617 trees were allowed to be cut. Only 27 trees have undergone earth-balling so far, as most of the trees cut down were sick, diseased, or too old to withstand transplantation, the DENR said.

The agency earlier cited Presidential Decree No. 705, PD 953, and other existing forestry and environmental regulations that allow the cutting or earth-balling of trees when necessary for infrastructure projects. Ironically, it seems to have overlooked Republic Act No. 3571 which prohibits the “cutting, destroying or injuring of planted or growing trees, flowering plants and shrubs or plants of scenic value along public roads” except when necessary for public safety.

World Environment Day

While both the DENR and project proponent, San Miguel Corp. (SMC), have agreed to halt the activity, concerned groups have asked: Why only now? Why stop only after more than 200 trees have been cut? Why advance a project without sufficient review and public consultation?

“A suspension is not enough—it is necessary to completely stop projects that destroy the environment and livelihoods,” added the group Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment. Already, several environmental and civil society groups have called for DENR’s accountability for the reckless tree-cutting without regard for its serious impact on the environment and the community.

It is a timely call, today being World Environment Day when people and governments would do well to reflect on how the idea of development at all cost has brought the planet to this critical juncture of ecological doom.

Led by the United Nations Environment Programme, World Environment Day has been observed annually since 1973, and remains the largest global platform for public environmental outreach. This year’s central theme and campaign focuses on climate action and rethinking the systems that power global economies.

Indispensable assets

The tree-cutting comes on the heels of a new report by the Asean Centre for Energy that noted how extreme heat has been spreading across Southeast Asia. “The region is warming quickly, and the urban heat island effect is intensifying the crisis,” stated the report published in April. Indeed, temperatures in recent months have breached the 40s, with the heat index in several Philippine provinces hitting 45 to 47 degrees Celsius.

The felled trees had absorbed carbon and served as buffer against extreme urban heat, the Kalikasan group said, adding that it would take years for the promised 50,700 newly planted seedlings from SMC to be able to do this.

Caritas Philippines, the social action arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, has called the tree-cutting a “direct assault on the poor.” The cut trees had served as “silent protectors” and “lungs” of the community for generations, and provided much-needed shade to ordinary vendors and commuters, it noted in a statement.

With less trees to prevent soil erosion, excess precipitation is bound to flood low-lying areas, a dire prospect given the onset of the rainy season. Pollution too becomes inevitable with the lack of trees that absorb carbon dioxide and affect air quality. Trees should thus be seen as indispensable assets that contribute to livable and sustainable communities. More trees create green and breathable spaces as well, a necessity amid the concrete infrastructures currently choking our cities.

Urgent priorities

It would do well for the DENR to review and fulfill its mandate to conserve, manage, and properly use the country’s environment and natural resources for future generations. An audit of previously greenlighted but environmentally unsound projects should also be in order, with the agency looking into such atrocities as the dolomite beach that has done little to stop the pollution in Manila Bay, and the possible seepage of sewage water in El Nido beach in Palawan.

The Marcos administration should meanwhile stay resolute in its environment policy expressed in several speeches and State of the Nation Addresses. Briefly, the official policy focuses on balancing economic development with climate resilience, with forest conservation among its pillars. President Marcos has consistently framed climate change and environmental protection as urgent priorities to create a peaceful balance between economic development and the environment.

It is time to put such policy to a test.