After 16 years: Reforestation of QC watershed now 90-percent done

Sixteen years ago, there were barely trees at the La Mesa watershed in Quezon City. The place was turning brown due to slash-and-burn farming (kaingin). 

 

Experts said the area was "totally disturbed" or suffering from intense environmental stress over a relatively short period of time.  

 

The 2,000-hectare forest is vital to Metro Manila's survival. It protects the reservoir that supplies water to the metropolis and some neighboring provinces. Its trees serve as the lungs that help clean the heavily-polluted air in the metropolis.

 

Bringing the trees back

Forester David Azurin and his team was hired to head the La Mesa Dam reforestation effort in 1999. The project was the result of a tripartite partnership between a non-profit group, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) which owns the land, and the local government of Quezon City.
 

The La Mesa watershed is an extension of the Sierra Madre mountain range. Azurin’s team decided to source seedlings from the mountain range to be as faithful to the forest as possible.

 

There were errors in the beginning. The team mistakenly planted five kinds of exotic species that were not endemic to Sierra Madre and the watershed. 

 

“Sabi ng mga expert hindi raw siya suited sa watershed. Una kasi iyong karamihan sa exotic, mga shallow-rooted species. Madaling lumaki pero pag mataas siya, madali na rin siyang tumumba," he said.

 

In 16 years, they were able to plant 765,000 of 101 endemic species to fill 1,500 hectares. These include high-valued hardwood trees like Yakal and Guijo, which are, according to Azurin, hard to propagate because of their seasonal fruit-bearing.
 

Experts say the project has a survival rate of 92.5%, the highest rate among reforestation projects in Southeast Asia.

 

Azurin said timing is important. Saplings are kept at the nursery for 8 months before they are planted out onto the field. They start to plant at the onset of the rainy season and stop every September 15 even if there will still be rain.

 

"Kung mahaba iyong panahon ng tag-ulan, mae-establish niya ang root system niya, may panlaban na siya pagdating ng tag-araw. Mas mataas ang survival rate pag maagang naitanim," Azurin said.

 

Azurin, a veteran forester of various agencies, is proud of the project. "Masayang-masaya ako, masayang-masaya talaga," he says. "Una, nanggaling ako sa logging company, galing ako sa DENR, galing ako sa Subic Naval Base tapos nag-NGO, pero ito iyong nakita kong naging part ako ng isang bagay na naging successful."

 

How not to develop a city
 

Urban planner Architect Jun Palafox says to clean polluted air in a street like EDSA, Metro Manila needs some three million trees. 

 

"The trees in La Mesa can partially compensate for the lack of open spaces," Palafox said.

 

On average, one tree can absorb up to 48 pounds of carbon dioxide per year. The trees in La Mesa rid the city of almost 37 million pounds of carbon dioxide yearly. 

 

The international standard for development, according to Palafox, is 8 square meters of open space per person. That's what Central Park is to New Yorkers or Hyde Park to Londoners. 

 

"With over 20 million people during the day, Metro Manila is an urban laboratory of how not to develop a city," Palafox said.

 

The watershed's 33 hectares were recently opened to the public, but there are rules to be followed. People need to call in advance if they plan to visit. Bicycles are allowed but motorized vehicles are off-limits.

The entrance fee is P50 or less per person. The money goes directly to the reforestation fund.

 

The world outside the forest 

Outside the restored forest, 64-year old Rogelio Bautista lives near an estero. He has not had a permanent home for 16 years. He was among the watershed workers evicted in 1999 when the reforestation began and the Eco Park was built. 

 

Bautista said all 36 families evicted were not offered relocation. Instead, each family was given P18,000 by the MWSS.

 

"Dapat naman sana alam naman nila na nagtrabaho kami sa loob, kahit papano naman sana tinulungan kami na saang lugar kami dalhin na magandang paglalagyan, wala naman sinabi sa amin," Bautista said.

 

Bautista now rents a small one-bedroom flat for him and his three children in Sitio Sapamanai, Bgy. Fairview, just outside the Eco Park.

 

Pancho Torres, 60, lives in neighboring Sitio Ruby. "Wala kaming magawa kundi tanggapin ang P18,000 kaysa makipagsapilitan ka ang kalaban mo pader, walang mangyayari sa iyo," Torres said. "Napakahirap talaga kasi hindi mo alam saan ka lilipat, mayroong gabi na hindi ka makatulog paano mo itataguyod ang pamilya mo."

 

MWSS Deputy Administrator Atty. Zoilo Andin claims that his agency legally resolved the issues involving informal settlers in 1999. He said under the Balik-Probinsya program, settlers are either given cash to go back to the province or are offered relocation, but never both.

 

All 36 families evicted in 1999 live just outside Eco Park to this day.

 

Lessons for the future

As of now, more than 200 hectares of the watershed still need to be reforested. But to be able to do that, they need to resolve resettlement for the hundred families already living there. 
 

Andin said they are studying various options that will they protect both the forest and the informal settlers.

 

"Importante kasi na ma-maintain nating malinis at maayos ang watershed ng La Mesa. Nakakatulong itong ibaba o i-maintain sa reasonable na presyo ang tubig nating ginagamit araw-araw."

 

In 2016, the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Azurin's company and MWSS will expire. MWSS will bid it out to interested parties, including Azurin's group, for fair competition.

 

"Tingin ko rin kayang i-replicate ito sa mga ibang areas na watershed o hindi lang watershed kundi sa ibang forest area at sana magaya nila ito," Azurin said. - JJ, GMA News

 

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This story is from a television report for State of the Nation with Jessica Soho produced by Lian Nami Buan and Leo Alexis Ecijan