Tacloban City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) Forester Mr. Marito Barillo conducted a site inspection on the beach forest at the coastal area in Tacloban North midpart of this month. The site which is a part of three barangays has been maintained, supervised, and protected by the City Government of Tacloban thru the CENRO since 2018.

“There is an excellent performance of plantation,” says Mr. Barillo when asked about his assessment on the three-year-old beach forest. “What I mean by excellent performance is, the growing vegetation and trees exist and that they look promising to achieve its objective which is to protect the coastal areas from the impact of storm surge,” the forester added.

The ten-hectare beach forest, together with the 1.2 hectare in Brgy. Nula-tula, is part of the mangrove reforestation project called One Resilient Team: Tacloban Project.

One Architecture, a New York-based firm, in collaboration with Philippine Reclamation Area (PRA), the Asian Institute of Management and Westlands International gave birth to the said project which aims to combat flood risk in Tacloban City, after it has suffered enormous damage from ST Yolanda in 2013.

Implemented and led by the CENRO headed by Mr. Jonatahan Hijada, in close coordination with the barangays, the project has been sustained and is now serving its purpose after three years.

Meanwhile, One Resilient Team: Tacloban Project was funded by Global Resilience Challenge Water Window.

RPA-Cablao/CIO