The Arroceros Forest Park in Ermita, Manila has been declared a permanent forest park. Manila Mayor Isko Moreno signed the declaration last Feb. 27 under Ordinance No. 8607.
Dubbed the “last lung” of Manila, the park is a 2.2-hectare land with 61 types of trees and more than 8,000 plant species. It is also home to 10 species of birds.
This ordinance mandates that the city will initially allocate P1 million in order to preserve and maintain the park. “Peace officers” will be designated and a government-sanctioned committee called the Arroceros Forest Park Governing Committee will be created to formulate a plan to maintain and operate the park.
In addition, Ordinance 8607 will prohibit the cutting of trees, improper waste disposal, and excavation within the area. Violators will be fined P2,500 for the first offense, P3,500 for the second and P5,000 or imprisonment of not more than a year for the third offense.
As the forest is the last lung of Manila, the ordinance aims to encourage citizens to take care of the remaining green spaces in the city to maintain a balanced and healthy ecology.
In 2018, the park was threatened by a planned development that aimed to turn it into a gymnasium. The local government has since halted this disruption.
[READ: Good news: Arroceros Forest Park and Manila Zoo are safe (for now)]Arroceros Park is a riverside park located on Antonio Villegas Street in the central district of Ermita, Manila. It was first established in 1993 through a memorandum of agreement signed by the City of Manila and then First Lady Amelita Ramos. The park is now home to over 3,000 forest trees through reforestation efforts of the Manila Seedling Bank. It also houses the Manila Education Center, the central offices for the Division of City Schools located at its southern edge.
Header photo courtesy of Richard A. Reyes from Inquirer.net
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