Cordillera DENR chief stops tree-cutting permits

By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITY — The Cordillera office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources will no longer issue tree-cutting permits in a bid to preserve and protect the remaining forests in the region.

DENR officials said watersheds and forest reservations in the region serve as primary source of irrigation water for the lowlands.

The stoppage of the issuance of tree-cutting permits is in compliance with an order of Environment Secretary Joselito Atienza Jr.

Atienza said proponents of projects will no longer be required to secure tree-cutting permits so as not to delay issuance of environmental permits.

Instead of the controversial tree-cutting permits, the project proponents will be issued tree-balling permits to enable them to transplant trees in other areas.

Primitivo C. Galinato Jr., Cordillera DENR director, said Atienza has made it clear the agency would no longer allow cutting of trees to give way to any development project anywhere.

These include those covered by environmental compliance certificates, permits or any other construction and development permits, Galinato said.

From now on, he said, project developers and proponents are required to design their projects in accordance with the location of the trees in the affected areas.

However, if clearing the area is unavoidable, the affected trees must be transferred to other areas through tree-balling at the expense of the developer or proponent.

For practical and safety reasons, Galinato requested Atienza to issue an authority that would allow the Cordillera DENR office to issue tree-cutting permits for dead trees only.

At the same time, he said, Atienza issued other orders for the simplification of the process for environmental compliance certificates and certificates of non-coverage by removing unnecessary requirements and restrictive rules that block the smooth flow of investments in the country.

Galinato said the non-issuance of tree-cutting permits to project developers and proponents is a boost to the effort of the Regional Development Council (RDC) in the Cordillera to preserve and protect the watersheds of the region.

In the past several years, the Cordillera RDC had been advocating for the adoption of pro-environment policies in order to save the forest cover of the region which has significantly dwindled due to massive tree cutting.

At present, the region’s forest cover has gone down to 36 percent which is below the critical level of 40 percent. This is a wake-up call for the concerned government agencies to strictly enforce the law on the preservation and protection of the watersheds and forests.

Galinato said the trees must be preserved for the benefit of the future generations of Cordillerans.