The local government of Quezon City has recently approved an ordinance prohibiting the cutting or destruction of trees declared as “century” or “heritage” trees.
To reinforce the ban, Quezon City Mayor Herbert M. Bautista has prodded a special technical committee, led by the Quezon City Parks Development, which is tasked to make an annual inventory of trees in the city, to do an intensive inventory for this purpose.
“All trees declared as century and heritage trees shall not be subjected to any cutting or any form of destruction, except for medical, public emergency, public safety and botanical reasons, and shall be preserved and maintained in its natural state,” Section 5 of City Ordinance 2638-2017 reads.
“The prohibition shall also apply to all plants and animals that live within or are dependent on said tree for their survival, including mammals, birds, reptiles or ferns,” it added.
Under the ordinance, trees identified to have lived for more than 100 years shall be declared as century trees, while those which have not yet reached 100 years old but are considered ecological, historically, culturally valuable or belonging to rare species shall be declared as heritage trees and shall receive the same protection as century trees.
Trees adjacent or near a water source and whose cutting or destruction will disrupt or destroy the water source shall also be declared as heritage trees and will receive the same protection provided for under the ordinance.
The city government will install a metal plate upon the declaration of a tree as a century or heritage tree.
For century trees that are identified and found to be in a private lot shall be covered by a written agreement between the lot owner, the city government and the barangay government.
Under such agreement the private lot owner would voluntarily approve the trees to be declared as century or heritage trees and shall enjoy the protection under the ordinance.
Violators face a fine of P5,000 per violation and/or imprisonment of six months.
The city government may, however, choose to impose an administrative fine of P500 for the first offense, P1,000 for the second offense, and P2,000 for the third offense in lieu of a court case.
The ordinance also institutionalizes an annual search for century and heritage trees within the week marking Arbor Day.