BEYOND MANGROVES: Iloilo City greenbelt law may cover beach forests

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

ILOILO CITY – A scientist is proposing sweeping amendments to Iloilo City’s newly enacted Coastal Greenbelt Zone (CGZ) ordinance that would shift the city’s coastal management strategy from a mangrove-focused policy to a broader ecosystem-based framework grounded in scientific research and climate resilience.

The proposed amendments are being drafted as part of the ordinance’s implementing rules and regulations, with technical guidance from Rex Sadaba, a professor at the Division of Biological Sciences of the University of the Philippines Visayas.

In his proposed amendments, Sadaba said the changes to the landmark ordinance seek to redefine how the city restores, protects, and manages its coastal areas by recognizing the interconnected roles of various coastal ecosystems.

Instead of concentrating solely on mangrove forests, the revised framework adopts the guiding principle of “Right Ecosystem, Right Place,” ensuring that restoration efforts are based on the natural characteristics of each shoreline and the native ecosystems best suited to thrive there.

“Coastal restoration and protection should always conserve or restore the native ecosystem naturally adapted to a particular shoreline rather than applying uniform vegetation prescriptions across different coastal environments,” reads the proposed amendment, a copy of which was shared by Councilor Romel Duron, author of the ordinance.

Under the proposed revisions, the legal scope of the CGZ would be significantly expanded to include not only mangrove forests but also beach forests and strand vegetation, estuarine and riparian forests, coastal wetlands, dune vegetation, and native urban coastal forests.

“This amendment establishes an ecosystem-based policy framework instead of mangrove-centered approach,” it added.

The amendments also introduce the concept of a “Coastal Greenbelt Ecosystem,” legally defining it as an interconnected network of coastal habitats that collectively provide shoreline stabilization, biodiversity conservation, carbon storage, and disaster risk reduction.

The proposed policy would require all restoration and rehabilitation projects to follow ecological suitability, meaning native species may only be planted in habitats where they naturally occur.

Sadaba said this approach would prevent ecologically inappropriate planting activities, such as establishing mangroves on sandy beaches where they do not naturally grow.

To support this, the amendment proposes the creation of a Scientific Advisory Panel composed of experts in coastal ecology, botany, and restoration ecology.

The revision also grants beach forests equal legal protection, subjecting them to the same monitoring, enforcement, and management standards applied to mangrove forests.

Sadaba likewise pushed for flexible greenbelt widths to replace the rigid requirement of a mandatory 100-meter inland buffer from the mean high-water mark.

While a 100-meter minimum is maintained where feasible, he suggested that the actual width should be determined by ecological assessments, shoreline geomorphology, and existing land use.

In densely developed areas, the proposal would allow “ecologically feasible” alternatives such as linear parks and vegetated buffers.

On Wednesday, July 29, Duron clarified that Villa Baybay, also known as Villa Beach, is not yet covered by the CGZ ordinance because the measure currently focuses on protecting mangrove ecosystems.

Villa Baybay is a long gray-sand urban beach in Arevalo District.

“This is ongoing. We can expand. Initially, we are focusing only on the identified areas, but we are not limiting ourselves to those,” Duron said in an interview.

“As of now, it is (Villa Baybay) not included because we are still focusing on mangrove protection. We are studying the possibility, which is why we may amend the ordinance if we decide to include that area,” he said.

Duron explained that planting mangroves along Villa Baybay is not scientifically appropriate because of its sandy shoreline, noting that mangroves thrive in soft, muddy, waterlogged soils.

“If we plant mangroves, they must be in the proper habitat, and that area is not suitable because it is sandy. That is why our approach is scientific. If it is a beach, we can develop it, but behind it there are beach forests that also need protection,” he added.

The CGZ ordinance, authored by Duron and passed by the Sangguniang Panlungsod earlier this year, established a mandatory 100-meter buffer extending inland from the mean high-water mark across the city’s 32 coastal barangays.

The measure designates approximately 110 hectares of mangrove forest as protected coastal greenbelt and imposes a total ban on coastal reclamation projects within those zones. The protected areas are concentrated in Barangays Bito-on and Balabago in Jaro District and Hinactacan in La Paz District.

The ordinance creates a Coastal Greenbelt Zone Committee chaired by the city mayor and sets aside PHP 5 million for implementation, covering capacity-building programs, public education campaigns, enforcement, and monitoring.

Mayor Raisa Treñas, in signing the measure, said the city would convene experts and scientists to craft science-based implementing rules and regulations to ensure the effective protection and rehabilitation of mangroves and coastal ecosystems.