Environmental Forum: ‘Kailangan pa rin ang green spaces sa urban area’

Urban farming was the subject of the 365th session of the monthly Kamayan Para sa Kalikasan Forum held last November 20, 2020 through an online webinar hosted by Green Convergence.

Environmental Lawyer Ipat Luna showed her rooftop garden to the forum participants and shared some of her planting endeavors. “I raised a lot of dapdap for streetside planting. I just bought a kilo of seeds pero sa palagay ko maraming puno’y pakikinabangan natin from that.”

As means of disaster preparedness, Atty. Luna shared that “kahit nabagyuhan at pinabayaan mo [ang garden], it’s still going to give you something. It’s not much pero kung alam mo may value, nakakatuwa rin…I will never run out of camote tops and regular sweet basil.” 

“This is good disaster preparedness.” she added. 

“Policy wise, I think the important thing is for LGUs to support home gardening not just by giving seeds not just by programs that they roll out, but actual technical support and subsidies.” said Atty. Luna.

Carol Galvez of Pitak Project shared the workings of her farm in La Union which promotes regenerative living. “Sa farm ang mantra namin is ‘Build, build, build healthy soil’. That is our wealth. We measure our wealth by how far we’ve regenerated the soil and how much capital we invest back into the land. That is the essence of regenerative living.”

“Rather than increasing the quantity of a certain form of capital, regenerative systems develop the quality of capital. Ang current extractive economy requires ever increasing quantities of capital. That is cancer.”

“Unless the system can be transformed, this will likely lead to overall collapse”, she added.

“Maraming benefits [ang regenerative living]” said Galvez. “It promotes biodiversity, climate change mitigation. We are resilient during disasters. Nung lockdown, may tanim kami.” 

“My point here is we have a choice. We have to choose to regenerate our planet. Let us stop destroying our ecosystems…Let us restore our ecosystems and help build a more equitable world for the future generations to come. I am telling you it is possible.” she concluded.

 

“It’s really innate for us to get attracted to pretty things or green things. Lalo nang ngayong pandemic, we crave for the outdoors and we want to be outside, and no other color will represent the outdoors like green” shared tourism planner Chen Mencias.

When Mencias started her urban garden, she noted “dumami yung mga ibon and insects. Dumami yung butterflies, bees, beetles.”

“Nung isang araw lang, nakakita ako ng Oriole, which is not very common sa urban area.” she added.

“Kaya kailangan pa rin sa urban area ang green spaces kasi it really provides a place for relaxation and communing with nature” she concluded.

Since March 1990, Kamayan Para Sa Kalikasan Forum has become an institutionalized platform that enables NGO and government representatives, the media, students, teachers, church groups, and concerned citizens to discuss pressing environmental issues in the country. This month’s forum is organized by Green Convergence and is supported by Kamayan Restaurant EDSA with the assistance of the Forest Foundation Philippines.

Watch the full November Kamayan Forum here: