Expert: Science-based, forward-looking urban environmental planning needed to save trees

DECADES-OLD trees were felled along Quirino Avenue in Manila since May 16 to make way for the Southern Access Link Expressway (SALEx).

- By JONATHAN L. MAYUGA

A project of San Miguel Corp. (SMC), through its infrastructure arm, SMC Infrastructure, SALEx is an elevated expressway segment designed to connect the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 to Roxas Boulevard.

An estimated 617 fully-grown trees along Quino Avenue were to be removed—either by earth-balling or worse, tree-cutting based on a permit issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

More than 200 trees have been felled. But the public clamor to stop the massacre of trees compelled the proponents to voluntarily stop the cutting—for now.

Not a numbers game

ASKED to weigh in, international biodiversity expert Theresa Mundita S. Lim said the reports on the cutting of trees along Quirino Avenue for the construction of the SALEx is a reminder that urban greening cannot be a simple numbers game of cutting trees in one area and planting replacements elsewhere.

“We recognize the need for infrastructure to support mobility and development. However, this must be balanced with science-based and forward-looking urban environmental planning,” said Lim, the immediate former Asean Centre for Biodiversity executive director.

Important ecosystem services

ACCORDING to Lim, trees, especially in cities, are not merely ornamental, as they provide shade, help reduce urban heat, improve air quality, absorb stormwater, support urban biodiversity, and contribute to the health and well-being of communities.

“This is why proper urban environmental planning is critical. We should not recommend the planting of trees today only to have them cut down a few years later because the areas were later identified for roads, bridges, expressways, or other infrastructure,” she explained.