Tree replacement for Cebu bus rapid transit unacceptable

The project, based on initial plans, entails the cutting of 2,024 trees in Cebu City

EFFICIENT TRANSPORT. This bus rapid transit system in Peru shows how road-sharing can work in urban areas

MANILA, Philippines Lawyer and environmentalist Gloria Estenzo Ramos said it would be unacceptable to simply plant new trees to replace the 2,024 trees to be cut in Cebu City to make way for the planned bus rapid transit system.

Government agencies in charge of the project should first give a valuation of the ecosystem services such as filtering pollution, water services, absorption of carbon dioxide, among others, to prove that the expected benefits will outweigh the impacts arising from the removal of these trees, she told Rappler on Tuesday, September 2.

Based on the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Environmental Impact Assessment of the project, 2,024 trees will be affected in the first phase of implementation of the P10.62-billion (US$244.78 million*) project, reported Cebu Daily News.

Most of these trees are narra trees along Osmea Boulevard, a major avenue in the city. The first phase involves the clearing of trees occupying both sides of the road and center islands from Bulacao to Ayala.

The usual protocol set by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for the cutting of trees for public works is to require the responsbile government agency to plant new trees elsewhere.

As an alternative to cutting down the trees, government agencies like the Cebu City Parks and Playgrounds Commission had suggested earth-balling the trees and replanting them elsewhere.

But even Environment Secretary Ramon Paje has said that earth-balling the careful carving out of an earth ball below the tree to move the tree with its root system intact does not assure the survival of the trees.

Cebu, the countrys second biggest metropolis, cannot afford to have more of its trees cut, said Ramos.

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Tree replacement for Cebu bus rapid transit unacceptable