Students participate in a visual arts competition held at the Arrroceros Forest Park in Manila. (Contributed photo)
MANILA, (PIA) — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources National Capital Region (DENR-NCR) on Tuesday announced a significant increase in green space cover across Metro Manila, a move aimed at mitigating the impact of climate change, and bring a host of other benefits.
During the 8th edition of the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas in Quezon City, DENR-National Capital Region Director Michael Drake P. Matias said the region’s green space cover has expanded by 47 percent from 2021 to 2024. “There was already an observed 47 percent in green space from 2021 to 2024. So it is noteworthy that this is only based on the assessment conducted by this office on available satellite images.”
Philippine Information Agency-NCR Director Emver P. Cortez (left) engages with DENR-NCR Director Michael Drake P. Matias during the 8th edition of the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas media forum. (Source: PIA Facebook Live screenshot)
However, the official said “it will still be subject to ground verification, but if you will notice the increase is observable and significant from 2021 to 2024.”
The DENR-NCR chief said in terms of increasing green spaces, the successful implementation of the aforementioned program was made possible through the efforts of the local government units in NCR.
The DENR’s efforts to expand green spaces in Metro Manila come as the country faces the threat of climate change. According to the National Adaptation Plan of the Philippines 2023-2050 by the Climate Change Commission, up to 11 million Filipinos are projected to be exposed to a “danger” level of heat index of higher than 42°C by 2030, with the number potentially ballooning to 74 million by 2050.
Among the green spaces accessible to the public in Metro Manila include the Arroceros Forest Park in Manila; UP Academic Oval in Diliman, Quezon City; People’s Parks in Valenzuela, Caloocan and Quezon City; Greenway Park in Taguig City; Ayala Triangle Gardens in Makati City; Estero Tripa de Gallina in Pasay City; and Filinvest City Central Park in Muntinlupa City.
The World Health Organization (WHO), for its part, recommends universal access to green spaces, with at least 0.5 hectares of green space within 300 meters of every home. The WHO also noted that these green areas provide numerous health benefits, including lower premature mortality, fewer mental health problems, and healthier babies, among others.
To further mitigate the impact of climate change and the increasing heat index experienced during the summer months, the DENR-NCR has also been implementing programs such as the Enhanced National Greening Program.
“Part of its Enhanced National Greening Program from 2011 to 2023, the DENR has maintained around 1,577 hectares of NGP sites, planted more than 1,226,500 seedlings, and produced closed to 12 million assorted seedlings,” Matias said. “These assorted seedlings were utilized not only in NCR but in other regions as well.
Meanwhile, the DENR-NCR chief said one of the “most common challenges” in terms of greening, is the available open spaces for planting.
“Most of the time, these open spaces were already privitized, and are already intended for development purposes, thus, to address this matter, we are focusing our efforts on IEC activities that promote the importance of green spaces,” he said.
“In addition, we are already collaborating with other stakeholders, like national government agencies, civil society, as well as non-government agencies on ways forward on enhancing and developing the green spaces in the National Capital Region,” he added.
The Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas is a project of the Presidential Communications Office in partnership with the Philippine Information Agency. (JCO/PIA-NCR)
