ENVIRONMENT WATCH

Robie Halip
Ifugao, Isabela execs cite role of watersheds in Norwegian confab

LAGAWE, Ifugao --- The governors of the host provinces of the Magat dam complex (Ifugao and Isabela) recently attended an environmental conference at Stavanger, Norway after they were invited by Statkraft, main investor of the SN Aboitiz company, to talk on impact of the company’s hydropower investments on local societies and indigenous populations in the Philippines in the Offshore Northern Seas conference and to witness the energy expo presenting clean energy booths.

The ONS conference is among the world’s largest energy conferences, organized bi-annually.
This year’s conference went with the title “Energy for One World” reflecting the combination of challenges in securing access to energy for development while protecting the environment.

SN Aboitiz, since its takeover on the management of the dam last April 2007, had been actively supporting health, education, environment, social infrastructure, livelihood and eco-tourism and governance programs in Isabela and Ifugao.

Gov. Teddy Baguilat, Jr. of Ifugao and Vice Gov. Ramon Reyes of Isabela, in place of Gov. Padaca, who attended the said conference shared to the Norwegian political youth organizations, leaders from the energy industry and the Norwegian Parliament Standing Committee on Energy and Environment the programs supported by SN Aboitiz that benefited numerous municipalities and schools of both provinces and the general state of watersheds supplying water to the dam.
Baguilat, in his presentation, cited the important role that Ifugao watersheds are playing in the sustenance of water supply for the dam.

Upland municipalities of the province had been consistently supplying water to the Magat dam since its construction in 1983 with the Hapao river in the municipality of Hungduan as the main feeder.

“Our watersheds though are currently in a critical condition as many of the dipterocarp and mossy forests are being converted to swidden farms and vegetable gardens or gradually destroyed due to unregulated quarrying, illegal logging and the increasing population” Baguilat said.

He said the provincial government in partnership with the Catholic Church and civil society organizations is currently embarking on a program to preserve the vanishing forests through the Critical Watersheds Development program.

This newly established program will get its start up funds from the share of the province in the dam’s transfer tax accrued from the sale of the Magat complex to SN Aboitiz from Napocor for information dissemination on the importance of maintaining the watershed areas not only to sustain the water supply but more importantly the preservation of traditions and culture embedded in those forests.

The taxes from the dam are of great help in the implementation of projects in the communities but their commitment to protect the watersheds will only be achieved if an alternative source of livelihood is provided to them to prevent them from converting the forests into vegetable farms and from engaging into unregulated quarrying and illegal logging.

“Giving back what is due to the watershed keepers would ensure the continuity of the operations of the dam and the continuity of our rich heritage” Baguilat said.