www射-国产免费一级-欧美福利-亚洲成人福利-成人一区在线观看-亚州成人

US EUROPE AFRICA ASIA 中文
World / Top News

Rain forest returns in Philippine capital

By Agence France-Presse in Manila (China Daily) Updated: 2015-04-25 07:43

Manila's only nature park benefits from 15-year effort to reclaim patchwork of farms, shanties

A tropical rain forest has regrown against all odds on the edge of the Philippine capital's biggest open-air dump, and is now a patch of green paradise in a sprawling metropolis blighted by giant slums.

The only nature park in Manila, the La Mesa watershed, a thicket about a fifth the size of Paris, wraps around a dam that stores drinking water for the metropolis of 14 million people.

"It's as if you've left Manila," Anton Haltland, manager of a car dealership, said after he and his friends spent half a day riding mountain bikes under thick canopies and knee-deep river crossings.

"As if you've slipped into a different time zone of a bygone era. ... It ticks all the boxes for challenge and beauty."

About 300,000 people visit the watershed and its more than 50 kilometers of nature trails each year, according to park officials.

The tropical rain forest within a city is the product of a 15-year partnership involving the national government, water companies and environmental groups.

Before then, the forest surrounding the reservoir had been largely burned off, replaced with a patchwork of farms and shanties that had been expanding in parallel with the nation's fast-growing population.

"Most of these informal settlers depended on the watershed's resources to make a living, so they cut trees for lumber, charcoal or firewood. The cleared areas were turned into vegetable plots," project manager Dave Azurin said.

To understand what would have happened to the area if not for the conservation efforts requires simply looking from a ridge across to the massive slums that border the watershed and are home to about 350,000 people.

One of the city's biggest open-air dump sites is also next to it.

But since the re-greening efforts started, more than 750,000 trees have been planted and are now home to 125 bird species, according to Azurin.

He said 99 of the tree species were endemic to the Philippines, and many of them were endangered.

More than 7,000 illegal settlers who were living in the watershed were also gradually relocated to nearby areas, thanks to free housing provided by the state water utility, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System.

Not without dangers

Nevertheless, the program has not been a complete success, nor without its dangers.

Unknown to many visitors, the park remains besieged by intruders who cut and steal trees, and at times even build shanties inside.

The park's first line of defense is a perimeter wall about the height of two adults, but trespassers easily use crowbars and hammers to make holes, according to forest ranger Exequiel Lobres.

"We'd plug a hole today, and they'd be back to punch another one through when no one is looking," Lobres said.

"It's a dangerous job. We're always fighting fires set off by outsiders. Some of them are armed."

Rain forest returns in Philippine capital

(China Daily 04/25/2015 page12)

Trudeau visits Sina Weibo
May gets little gasp as EU extends deadline for sufficient progress in Brexit talks
Ethiopian FM urges strengthened Ethiopia-China ties
Yemen's ex-president Saleh, relatives killed by Houthis
Most Popular
Hot Topics

...
主站蜘蛛池模板: 日韩三级精品 | 亚洲国产在 | 精品欧美一区二区三区精品久久 | 欧美色视频日本片免费高清 | 亚洲www视频 | 不卡一区二区在线 | 国产在视频线精品视频二代 | 中文在线亚洲 | 亚洲精品在线免费看 | 成人精品国产亚洲欧洲 | 青青草福利视频 | 国产成人综合久久精品亚洲 | 欧美jizzhd极品欧美 | 久久久这里只有精品加勒比 | 亚洲日产综合欧美一区二区 | 一区二区三区免费视频播放器 | 亚洲国产精品看片在线观看 | 亚洲综合首页 | 91久久精品国产一区二区 | 一级免费a | 国产精品久久久免费视频 | 久久91视频 | 日本色综合网 | 国产视频久久久久 | 九九精品国产兔费观看久久 | 亚洲精品久久久久久久777 | 久草资源在线 | 欧美一线不卡在线播放 | 亚洲一区中文字幕在线 | 国内自拍网红在线综合 | 午夜三级网 | 成人性版蝴蝶影院污 | 波多野结衣在线视频免费观看 | 亚洲精品一区二区三区在 | 日本在线亚州精品视频在线 | 欧美日韩视频精品一区二区 | 91精品久久国产青草 | 色咪味成人网 | 经典国产一级毛片 | 国产亚洲欧美日韩在线看片 | 那里有黄色网址 |