05/07/2025
Davao's Vanishing Embrace: A City's Green Legacy Turns to Concrete
Davao City lost over 95 percent of its wetland ecosystems from its 1944 figure of 471 hectares. Judging by the numbers from 2002, when the city was down to 84.55 hectares of wetland, the depletion had progressed to only 24.46 hectares by the year 2021. Those aren't just numbers; they are warnings.
Wetlands and mangroves are not just green patches along the shore; they are natural barriers designed to absorb the forces from storm surges and floodwaters. They sustain marine biodiversity, acting as shields for coastal communities. In their absence, cities along the coast, like Davao, remain at the highest risk of flood, erosion, and rising sea levels. This loss has been a byproduct of growth, with decades of unpublished building projects carrying the seeds of environmentally destructive mushroom growth.
Historic records show that the neighborhoods now standing with so many houses and buildings were once thickly covered mangrove forests and tidal marshes. Each passing decade saw the gradual extinction of these natural habitats just to give way for urban growth. What was once a functioning coastal ecosystem is now a sheer expanse of asphalt, drainage canals, and communities prone to flooding.
One barangay in the coastal region of Davao has quietly extended its mangrove forest, contrary to the general trend, now multiplied from 22 hectares in 2013 to 44 hectares in its present extent. This larger expansion is now home to 37 species of mangroves. All these were achieved through community-driven efforts on the basis of ecological necessity. The local community has mobilized their youth in this program of conservation where they participate in growing seedlings, selling them to environmental groups, and manually growing them in coastal areas.
Davaoeรฑos will tell you that urban zoning laws professedly forbade reclamation of wetlands in the city. However, satellite images and field studies offer evidence of continuing losses in such habitat-yielding wetland environments. National legislations, such as the Forestry Code of the Philippines, forbid the cutting down of mangroves, yet regular occurrences have shown that not all people abide by the law. The existence of laws means nothing when not enforced, inconsistently applied, or at least optional.
These mangrove ecosystems must be considered parts of public infrastructure in their very own right. They function, or are supposed to function, as protective barriers, and nowhere have so few human-made substitutes become so cost-effective or complete in such functions. The loss of every hectare shows yet another ecological wound; this wound, however, has economic and social impacts.
In this thing that is understood by coastal communities, flood waters are shallower where mangroves exist, they are taken by fish, and their effect on storms is lessened. In turn, these areas have fisherfolk that have sustainable projects like crab farming and fish cages whose operation complements the mangrove swamps. They have increased aquaculture productivity by as much as 10 percent and limited marine pollution by avoiding chemical feeds.
This shows that development and conservation can very well exist side by side. Sustainable livelihoods can exist with ecosystems that are protected. While stability needs governance and long-term planning, it also needs to show greater respect for nature's contribution toward urban building.
Nature has played its part. It is time that the rest of us play ours.
Written by: Roxxie Tabile
Editorial Cartoon by: Kathleen Rojas
Article source:
GMA News Online
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/regions/950728/mangrove-forests-davao-city-diminishing-spark-concerns/story/%3famp
