Environmental Conservation In The Philippines

In the center of the Island of Cebu are forests nestled among the mountains. A major part of the mountains are the forest reserves, including the Central Cebu Protected Landscape Area (CCPLA). These forests help regulate the flow of water directly to the sea as it delays water run-off from the steep areas towards the coast. The mountains and forests are the source of water of the island, serving as rainwater catchment areas which recharge the underground aquifers.

The forests are also the natural habitat to Cebu’s indigenous flora and fauna, many of which are endangered. It is an environmentally critical area, vital to the sustainability of Cebu.

The lush vegetative cover in these forest reserves contribute largely to maintaining a comfortable

The mountains and forests at the center of the island is slowly being developed and occupied by settlers. These environmental consideration may provide some compelling reason against disturbing the present state of our mountains and forests.

In the 1980 plan of the Metro Cebu Land Use and Transportation Study (MCLUTS), a development constraint map showed what was then named as the urban limit. (Figure 3) this was an imaginary line which described the boundary between urban development and forest. It largely delineated the boundary between lower slopes and those beyond

18% which is considered unbuildable. This means that those areas beyond the urban limit require special controls to discourage development and thereby preserve the environment as well as protect the forests and water sources. It was intended to be institutionalized with clear-cut policies towards its implementation; however, this was not to be as more and more private developments and subdivision have breached through this urban limit. The trans-central highway which had very limited controls was a major catalyst toward this breach towards our forests.

Figure 2: Live-Work-Play Clusters in the whole of

 Housing Areas – There is a splattering of existing and potential housing sites now being developed in Cebu and

Mandaue.

Figure 4: Hierarchy of roads for Metro Cebu

8 Joseph Michael Espina/ Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 00 (2016) 000–000

4. A Metro Cebu Land Use Structure

A proposed land use structure for Metro Cebu begins with a three-level defense strategy against urban sprawl.

These are development of dispersed growth clusters to spread urbanization north and south of the axial corridor and a concentrated development at the central cluster with the development of the Green Belt and the Green Loop.

4.1. Dispersed Growth Clusters

The resulting analysis of the three factors of development defines the limits of an urban center which may be subject to densification through development incentives and controls. Outlying municipalities may be developed as growth centers in the north and south to disperse urban functions from the center. Existing settlement patterns are in a linear direction along the main axial corridor. They form natural growth clusters in the north and south with generally