UP suggest a better way to rehabilitate the Manila bay and it can help the environment.

The rehabilitation of Manila bay has been the talk in the news in weeks. Turning the sand into white using dolomite made everyone happy and some angry. The UP Diliman Institute of Biology said to willingly assist the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in forming and implementing a science-based rehabilitation program for the heavily polluted bay. The main purpose of it is to protect the habitats, recover the bay, and reducing pollution.

“The dumping of dolomite in Manila Bay has effectively covered part of the intertidal area used by the birds, thereby reducing their habitat,” it said. “Any habitat reduction or loss will reduce opportunities for migratory birds to feed and refuel on their migration journey.”

Mangrove rehabilitation, on the other hand, is a cheaper nature-based solution that can contribute in biodiversity conservation and in climate change adaptation, the institute said.“Having ecologically healthy mangroves will also help lessen heavy metal contamination, a condition that beset Manila Bay for a long time,” it said.

“The recent effort of dumping dolomite sand on a reclaimed part of Manila Bay is not the best way of spending government money; a critical resource during the pandemic that could have been put to better use by spending for the needs of medical front-liners and the millions of our hungry fellow Filipinos,” it added.