TRAILS UP NORTH

Watersheds to veggie plantations
GLO A. TUAZON

TINOc, Ifugao -- The watershed cradle of the Cordillera covers the provinces of Benguet, Ifugao, Mountain Province and other areas. These are protected areas -- parts of the mossy forest even belonging to our national parks.

These parts were once thickly forested, and everywhere you looked is the vast expanse of trees and thick undergrowth. In here are the most popular pine forests interrupted once in a while by a stretch of grassland. Going up to places with higher elevations would make a noticeable change of scenery when the pine becomes interspersed with forest trees. Then it goes up to more elevated areas and the mossy forests otherwise known as cloud forests appear. What wonder these places hold and bring about, sustaining us unselfishly with water consumed or turned into electricity.

This eco-region is a wonderland in itself. It used to house harems of known and unknown bird species. At one time the red hornbills were found in the forests of Tinoc and Hungduan, Ifugao (also found in the other municipalities) as evidenced by headgears of male warriors and hunters of that time.

The hornbills along with the crossbills loved pinecones and acorns for food. The civet cats (musang or motit) ran about in Asipulo so does a number of bats. Other endemic mammals, are the giant and dwarf cloud rats, found mostly in the mossy forests of Kabayan and Kapangan of Benguet. The warty Philippine hogs are about in most parts to include the Mountain province.

The vegetation is an assortment of trees, shrubs, flowers, mosses and lichens. Each thriving in partnership with everything else that grows. Each a wonder that most were used by indeginous people as cures to ailments. In the clumpy, damp world of mossy forests,oaks dominate the landscape, with profusion of other tree species.

Vines encircle moss and lichen covered trees and shrubs, and carpets the forest floor too. At this high elevation the temperature drops low. And with thick overhead cover the sun appears rarely. The matted underfoot silences the drops of water that runs underneath the gnarled roots to streams and rivers and springs.

Gone are the days when these forests were as marvelous. What remains are clumps here and there. Denuded and parched, most areas are now gray and brown from kaingin and quarrying. Illegal logging happens on another side.

A large percentage has gone to plantations of synthetically grown vegetables. The deforestation continues at an alarming regular pace. It was always the reason that human population and extreme poverty were the causes.

In reality it is but concern should set in. Until when and where does it end? Until every standing tree is mowed down by the heavy machineries creeping up these mountains? Does the concern for water not enough reason to start thinking of ending the mutilation of the land?

In Benguet, Ifugao and Mountain Province, the ravaging of the watershed areas go on unabated. A few concerned politicians, agencies, organizations and private individuals are moving and lobbying for the protection of the areas but most are unmoved and insensitive. For comments, suggestions and pooling in to help in the rehabilitation of our forests, please contact the author at twilight_glo@yahoo.com.