By FACULTY OF UP COLLEGE OF SCIENCE

The UP Baguio College of Science faculty strongly objects to the plan of SM Development Corporation to convert an area with more than one hundred pine trees into a parking space and mall extension. The faculty believes that such plan will remove critical components that mitigate air pollution in this area and will result to serious physical and geological problems.

Pine trees play significant roles in upland ecosystems. In the Cordilleras, they are among the dominant species that determine the physical and biological characteristics of these habitats. The mere existence of these trees does not only have implications in ecosystem structure but also in mitigating disturbances such as landslides, floods, and air pollution. The idea of root balling the pine trees and replacing these with an artificial environment with ornamental plants that they claim to have the capability of absorbing pollutants, is an underestimation of the importance of these trees and the associated underbrush as natural carbon sinks.

According to a study of the US Department of Energy in 1992, trees can significantly reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in air by a process known as carbon sequestration. This process allows the vegetation to assimilate CO2 and convert it to plant biomass. Several factors affect the efficiency of absorbing the pollutant, namely, the type of the plant, its size, its age, and the area where it can be found.

Among plants, trees are generally more efficient than shrubs and other smaller plants in sequestering carbon because they are larger and thus, can convert and store more carbon. Pine trees are better than deciduous trees as assimilators of carbon because they have a longer life span (pines can live for more than a hundred years), they are able to store a large volume of assimilated carbon as wood, and they do not shed the bulks at the end of growing season (De Lucia et al., 1999).

The age of a tree is also a critical factor in sequestering carbon. As trees become more mature, they absorb more CO2. A UP Baguio study in 2009 showed that the pollution in Upper Session Road was worst compared to Harrison Road and UP Drive. The planned replacement of existing mature trees with newly planted seedlings will further worsen the air quality in the area because the latter practically have lower CO2 absorption rate. What is best is to leave those mature trees standing, protect them, and plant new seedlings.

Root balling trees and transferring them into a new environment do not guarantee a high survival rate, as SM has publicly acknowledged. Most newly transplanted trees are subject to stress-related problems because of tremendous root loss. The condition is known as transplant shock and resulting to an increased vulnerability to drought, insects, diseases, and other problems. Most newly planted trees die early during the establishment of the roots in their new locations since they lose more water than they are capable of absorbing and they are not able to anchor themselves properly.

The damaging impacts noted above are only the tip of the iceberg. In addition to these are other disastrous impacts brought about by increased albedo effect, decrease in the soil’s water retention capacity, increased soil erosion, alteration of natural landscape, decreased capacity to absorb and adsorb airborne particulates, among others. All these can bring about negative synergistic effects on the Baguio community.

On this note, the College of Science of UP Baguio joins the multi-sectoral objection to SM Baguio’s plan to expand at the expense of the environment and without regard for the health of the Baguio people and its visitors. # nordis.net