Atienza bans tree-cutting nationwide

THE government will no longer issue tree-cutting permits to preserve the country’s remaining forest cover, Environment Secretary Lito Atienza said yesterday.

“We are making it clear that we will not allow any cutting down of trees to give way to any development project anywhere in the country, even those covered by environmental compliance certificates, mining permits or any other construction and development permits,” Atienza said.

“From now on, developers must design their projects around the trees in an area,” Atienza said.

“When clearing an area is unavoidable, all affected trees must be balled and transferred elsewhere.”

At a consultation with various groups, Atienza said the removal of tree-cutting permits would also speed up the issuance of environmental permits.

At the meeting with industry associations, non-government organizations, the academic community and other stakeholders, Atienza presented policy reforms that would reduce the processing period for environmental compliance certificates to 20 days from six months, and the certificate of non-coverage to a day from three weeks.

But Atienza assured the group that streamlining the procedures would not only reduce processing time but also strengthen accountability, improve efficiency, remove opportunities for corruption, and promote transparency for sustainable development.

He said the adopting the policy reforms would not in any way sacrifice environmental protection. –Othel V. Campos, Manila Standard Today