Gov‘t agencies fence Busol Watershed against squatters
>> Wednesday, April 6, 2016
By Angelo
Acosta
BAGUIO CITY — The fencing
of Busol Watershed here to prevent it from being encroached by squatters is now
70 percent done.
A total of
1.9 kilometers was done by the Cordillera Department of Environment and Natural
Resources composed of 1,088 of frames.
The
fencing, a joint effort of the City of Baguio, Baguio Regreening Movement,
Baguio Water District, the LGU of Baguio, and many others who contributed for
the fencing is intended to immediately and effectively prevent destructive
activities within the watershed.
The
construction of the 1.9 km share of the DENR started January is expected to be
completed by July 15.
The
construction
firm
in-charge, the Tribu Construction, currently utilizes eight teams stretching
their work force to enclose the specific portion of the watershed area of the
reservation.
The Busol
watershed is one of the micro watersheds draining to the Balili River and a
headwater to the Naguilian River watershed that drains to the province of La
Union. It is located in Benguet straddling over Baguio City and La Trinidad. It
is considered to be the biggest source of drinking water to 13 barangays of
Baguio City and 12 barangays of La Trinidad and some sitios of Tuding, Itogon
as well.
It has an
area of 336 hectares. Administratively, it covers about 112 hectares in the
City of Baguio and 224 hectares in the Municipality of La Trinidad, Benguet.
The
Community Environment and Natural Resources Office-Baguio headed by OIC CENR
Officer Rainier Balbuena, in coordination with PENR and the DENR-CAR Regional
Office are on top of the monitoring and supervision activity to ensure that the
implementation of the fencing activities is done in accordance with the plan.
According
to forester Marilyn Malecdan from the Conservation and Development Division of
the DENR-CAR, the fencing aims to protect Busol watershed from timber poaching,
illegal settlers and unauthorized entry.
“The role
of the DENR is to patrol and defend the restoration of balance in Busol Forest
Reserve”, Malecdan added.
This fencing
activity is included in the Watershed Protection of Busol Forest Reservation
project that gives priority to the improvement of the forest cover; the water
quality, quantity of ground and surface water resources; the restoration of the
ecological balance; and its biodiversity.
To spread
awareness and impart reformation to the settlers living in the area, an ongoing
installation of signs indicating the jurisdiction throughout the boundaries of
the reservation has begun on February 26, 2015.
“We ve been putting up signs in the borders of Busol, there will
be 15 signs, so people will know the entire coverage of the watershed,——”
Malecdan said.
0 comments:
Post a Comment