When it rains, many neighbourhoods in the Philippine capital turn into disease-infested swamps. Read more at straitstimes.com.
BARAS, The Philippines - From her house in a Manila suburb, Ms Rowena Jimenez can’t see the bare mountains around the built-up city. But she feels the impact of deforestation every time her living room floods.
But without enough trees to help absorb the rain, huge volumes of water run off the slopes and into waterways that flow into the metropolis, turning neighbourhoods into disease-infested swamps. Only 2.1 per cent of the watershed was covered by dense “closed forest” in 2015, according to a World Bank report.
That was two years after Typhoon Ketsana, known in the Philippines as Tropical Storm Ondoy, submerged 80 per cent of the city and killed hundreds of people. “The surface of the Marikina watershed has been modified into something that is not able to absorb a lot of rainwater,” he said. This also leads to water shortages in the dry season.
Protecting existing forests and replanting others are made difficult by corruption and sometimes violent conflict over land ownership and usage.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
High-risk volcano search for Philippine plane with four onboardMANILA: Philippine authorities said Monday (Feb 20) they would verify whether the wreckage of a small plane spotted near the crater of a restive volcano was that of a Cessna aircraft that went missing with fou
Read more »
Rescuers climb Philippine volcano to reach plane crash siteIt is not known if there are any survivors. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Read more »
Rescuers climb Philippine volcano to reach plane crash siteMANILA: Philippine rescue teams began climbing an active volcano on Tuesday (Feb 21) in a 'very risky operation' to reach the wreckage of a small plane that crashed at the weekend, officials said.
Read more »
Living it up in a Manila jail, ‘Luffy’ and gang allegedly targeted victims in JapanMore than six billion yen (S$60m) were pilfered through phone scams, in addition to at least 50 violent robberies. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Read more »
Philippines, US discuss joint coast guard patrols in South China SeaA Manila official did not provide details on the scale or timing of the proposed patrols. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Read more »
'Everything was buried': Brazilians recount storm horrorSÃO SEBASTIÃO: Ankle-deep in muck, Brazilian domestic worker Patricia da Silva picks her way through the debris and mud of what used to be her home, trying to rescue what she can of her belongings. Da Silva, 31, had to flee with her two daughters on Sunday (Feb 19) at dawn when torrential rain in the sou
Read more »