Our coastlines are vital to all biodiversity on this planet. Beaches and wetlands serve as the natural habitat of millions of living beings, including marine animals that form part of our diet. Imagine what would happen to human life if we lose our marine ecosystem. In a 2015 report, Ocean Conservancy and the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment stated that the Philippines has become the third-largest producer of plastic waste in our oceans. Plastic waste has littered the shores of Manila Bay and connected waterways and threatens biodiversity along those areas. One particularly affected area is the 175-hectare Las Piñas-Parañaque Wetland Park, one of the Ramsar Convention’s Wetlands of International Importance, and a protected area under the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 2018.

Fabonan, E. (2018, September 29). Villar leads in the sustainable development of Las Pinas- Paranaque wetland park. The Philippine Star, p. 5.