The company tasked with building and operating the New Manila International Airport has launched the first project in the Philippines aimed at offsetting the loss of natural and critical habitats from a major infrastructure project.
San Miguel Aerocity, the infrastructure subsidiary of the San Miguel Corp. (SMC), on Friday launched the Saribuhay sa Dampalit project in Bulacan province north of Manila, where the new airport will be located.
At inauguration, the pilot project – primarily designed to establish a rich feeding ground for visiting migratory birds – covers 40 hectares, but this will in time rise to 800 ha.
“The Saribuhay sa Dampalit project is an integrative approach to development that respects and enhances the natural environment alongside our infrastructure objectives. We firmly believe that progress and nature can co-exist, benefiting both the ecosystem and the local community,” SMC President and CEO Ramon S. Ang said in a statement.
There is no obligation for infrastructure developers in the Southeast Asian nation to offset damage to biodiversity from its activities.
San Miguel has instead established the offset project on a voluntary basis, referring to International Finance Corporation (IFC) guidelines on biodiversity conservation and sustainable management of living natural resources.
In its 2021 biodiversity action plan for the airport project, San Miguel stressed it would apply the mitigation hierarchy, first making sure to avoid and reduce negative impact and restore habitats where possible, before offsetting unavoidable damage.
However, avoidance and reduction would happen primarily during the construction period, as all habitat at the 2,500-ha airport area will likely be permanently lost, according to the project’s environmental impact assessment.
“The project will result in the degradation and loss of valuable habitats as a consequence of the change of land use from areas of mudflats (tidal and permanently inundated), fishponds (temporary dry and shallow and permanently inundated), mangrove and rivers into an airport with all its facilities,” the biodiversity action plan said.
“It is concluded that most of these changes in land use cannot be mitigated and need to be compensated offsite. Where impacts cannot be avoided or mitigated, biodiversity offsets are used.”
Some 1,650 ha of critical habitat is expected to be permanently lost, important to more than 30 species that are categorised as either critically endangered or endangered; endemic and/or restricted; or migratory and/or congregatory.
Of those, 22 are birds and eight are fish.
In accordance with the IFC guidelines, San Miguel is aiming to demonstrate no net loss of natural habitat, and biodiversity net gain for critical habitat.
At the offset project site, one of several nature-based solutions planned by San Miguel, a methodology developed by Natural England in the UK will be used to quantify biodiversity outcome.
Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga attended the inauguration ceremony, praising San Miguel for voluntarily launching the country’s first and biggest biodiversity offset project, but also stressing the necessity of applying the mitigation hierarchy.
The airport is the biggest-ever infrastructure in the Philippines, and will initially be capable of handling 35 million passengers annually, rising to 100 mln over time.
San Miguel estimates the project will underpin over 1 mln direct and indirect jobs.
The Philippines is one of the world’s 17 megadiverse countries, but has been suffering from nature degradation and biodiversity loss for decades.
Secretary Loyzaga said in Dec. 2022 that the country is considering setting up a voluntary biodiversity crediting scheme as a means to attracting foreign investment in nature protection, but no practical steps towards that have been announced.
By Stian Reklev – stian@carbon-pulse.com
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