Mayor: Illegal loggers, farmers ‘invading’ Mt Data watershed

BAUKO, Mountain Province – Mayor Abraham B. Akilit urged the police and military to be more vigilant against illegal loggers to protect the Mt, Data watershed here.

           

Unscrupulous commercial vegetable farm owners are reportedly trying to encroach on several forests in the municipality which supply abundant water supply for rivers that trace their headwaters to the Mount Data National Park.

            

Akilit said identification of boundary lines of the municipality has already been completed after  a survey, thus, the next move is to fence the boundaries to prevent owners of commercial vegetable gardens from encroaching into the forested areas of the town which had been protected by the people over the past several decades.

            

He encouraged teachers to take time in teaching today’s youth the importance of preserving and protecting the environment so they will grow up to be responsible citizens in order to prevent the eventual deterioration of the environment.

Bauko serves as the headwaters of the Chico, Agno, Abra and Magat rivers that provide abundant water supply for domestic, irrigation, power generation, industrial and agricultural purposes for people living in lowland communities.

     

“Let us not wait for the environment to get back at us,”Akilit said adding environmental preservation and protection is the obligation of everyone and not to be left alone to government.

            

To address the clamor of people living in watershed areas to have sustainable sources of livelihood, the local chief executive is pushing agro-forestry programs so   residents will be able to have sources of food for their families without sacrificing the environment.

            

According to him, concerned government agencies should help in empowering people living in communities that are located within watersheds and forest reservations to police their own ranks to guarantee that the trees which help in soil erosion control and contribute in providing a suitable source of potable water will not be gone because of the dire need to look for sources of livelihood.