IN a bid to enable action to preserve the city’s remaining tree cover, Baguio has tagged some 900 hectares of land in the city as “tree zones” to be protected by the city council via legislative action.
In addition to 77 hectares of land in 14 protected watersheds and 61 hectares of existing park and tree plazas, the city council’s legislative research unit tagged unused village lots, school grounds, and other properties otherwise unfit for use as settlements as potential reforestation program sites.
The team also reported some 77 hectares of land in private parks, local campuses, barangay land and government reservations that could be used for reforestation projects.
According to a 2019 study, Baguio has some 2.5 million trees, already insufficient for Baguio’s then 370,000 population that has only kept growing since.
Meanwhile, a study of Baguio’s carrying capacity indicates that the city’s green space and forest cover is only 23 percent of its land area, whereas the optimal forest cover should be somewhere between 30 to 40 percent of the city’s land area.
The council had previously mulled the possibility of buying private lands for reforestation or the provision of tax incentives for property owners who have maintained tree covers in their properties.
The city council is also currently mulling over a proposed moratorium on all tree-cutting activities in the city.
