The concept for the Sustainable Development Strategy includes integration of environmental

consideration in decision-making, proper pricing of natural resources, conservation of biodiversity,

rehabilitation of ecosystems, control of population growth and human resources development,
inducing growth in rural areas, promotion of environmental education, strengthening citizens’
participation, and promoting small to medium sized enterprises and sustainable agricultural and
forestry practices.

1. The Philippine Strategy for Sustainable Development shall address specifically the adverse
impact of growth and development such as but not limited to po11ution from factories an(l
population, environment and natural resources, industry, infrastructure and
energy.pesticide build up from agriculture; and the depletion and degradation of natural
resources due mainly to misuse and over exploitation.
2. It shall consist of a set of general strategies to resolve and reconcile the diverse and
sometimes conflicting environmental, demographic, economic and natural resource use
issues arising from the country's development efforts; and sectoral strategies identified after
a review of the current efforts being undertaken in each of the identified sectors.
3. The general strategies shall include the integration of environmental considerations in
decision making, proper resource pricing, property rights reform, conservation of
Biodiversity, rehabilitation of degraded ecosystem, strengthening of residual management
(pollution control), control of population growth and human resources development,
inducing growth in rural areas, promotion of environmental education and strengthening of
citizens participation.
4. The conceptual framework shall be the basis for the formulation of strategies for each of the
identified sectors, namely:

Baguio City

For the past twenty one years (1988-2009), Baguio City has been transformed physically, as indicated
by an almost 3-fold increase in its built-up area at the expense of its forest cover, cropland and
brushland areas. The LUC change patterns show that in recent years there has been increasing
pressure on the remaining valuable urban green spaces to be converted into built-up. This is an
alarming trend as the remaining forest cover is the main source of valuable ecosystem services in the
city.

The LUC changes from 1988 to 2009 have greatly affected the total annual ESV of Baguio City. In
1988, the City’s total annual ESV was US$5.35 million, but this decreased to US$3.47 million in 1998
and US$2.15 million in 2009. Coupled with rapid population growth, the LUC changes had also
impacted the H-ESV ratio in the City, which decreased from 1:31 (US$/year) in 1988 to 1:15 and 1:7 in
1998 and 2009, respectively. The scenario-based future LUC change projections showed that if built-
up continued to expand in any area, including forested areas, the City’s annual ESV in 2020 would be
about US$1.41 million with an H-ESV ratio of 1:4. However, if forest cover were fully protected and
conserved, the City’s annual ESV in 2020 would be about US$1.97 million with an H-ESV ratio of 1:6.

Needless to say, even if the City Government of Baguio allowed the trend of LUC change (magnitude
of built-up expansion) to continue until 2020,such change might not necessarily affect the City’s
ecosystem services at the same extent as in the previous years. However, that is only the case if the
forest cover were fully protected and conserved.
Hence, the scenario analysis highlights the need to strengthen the implementation of policies related
to natural landscape conservation and protection in order to minimize the potential impact of LUC
changes on the overall ESV of Baguio City.

There is compelling evidence from this to conclude that the guiding principles laid by Burnham for
the sustainable development of Baguio City have been neglected, and that this great hill station is now
in a critical status.

It is important that the City government re-assess the carrying capacity of Baguio so that the City’s
remaining natural resources would not be taxed beyond their limits. To avoid further jeopardizing
valuable ecosystem services, future landscape conservation and urban development planning
activities of the City Government should take into consideration the study’s findings with regard to
LUC change and ecosystem services. They should also adopt modern geospatial technologies as tools
for exploratory analyses of the potential environmental impact of any proposed LUC change or
physical development.

For Baguio to become a sustainable city, it must achieve a balance among environmental protection,
economic development, and social well-being.