By Charmaine Odong
CALAMBA CITY, Laguna– Environment authorities said the government continues to implement reforestation programs designed to boost watersheds’ capacity to absorb heavy rainfall that brings increased volume of floodwaters to communities in Calabarzon.
In line with the Marcos Jr. administration’s goal, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said the National Greening Program (NGP) continues to rehabilitate degraded forestlands, expand forest cover, and mitigate climate change by increasing carbon sequestration.
“Under the NGP, we carefully select the appropriate tree species that have the potential to strengthen the soil stability and increase the land’s capacity to absorb and retain water,” said Nilo Tamoria, Regional Executive Director of DENR IV-A, in an online program of the Philippine Information Agency-Calabarzon.
He added: “There is no other direction for water from the mountains but to flow down to the lowlands. That’s why we also have a program in place to slow down the flow of water by establishing small water impounding projects in upland areas,” the DENR official said.
Several areas across the Calabarzon region are prone to flooding, particularly those near rivers, lakes, and coastal areas.
The DENR said water impounding projects help reduce the speed of water runoff and allow it to be stored as water source during the dry season.
Tamoria cited climate change and population growth as contributories to the increasing volume of floodwaters entering communities.
“Climate change is causing increased volumes of rainfall and due to development and population growth, the lack of forests and watersheds have a major impact,” he said.
“With fewer forest areas to absorb rain and stormwater, the capacity of our watersheds to manage heavy rainfall has been significantly reduced,” Tamoria added.
Additionally, the DENR said population growth that comes with urbanization has resulted in reduced vegetation cover, contributing to the severity of floods.
Tamoria noted the importance of planning development projects through the issuance of an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) which guarantees compliance with regulations prior to project implementation.
“Through the ECC, we ensure that even on the planning stage, the risk of flooding is already being considered. We don’t want our projects to focus on flood control because that means the water has already flowed down. What we want is for the project to consider how to prevent flooding,” he added.
Aside from these initiatives, the DENR through the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), continues the development of geohazard maps, which are crucial for Disaster Risk Reduction And Management (DRRM).
These maps are also provided to local government units to support their DRRM preparedness efforts.
