Gov’t sets P70 M for upland project

BAGUIO CITY — At least P70 million was included in the budget of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the Cordillera this year to maintain community forests and expand implementation of the agency’s upland development program to preserve and protect deteriorating watersheds and forests in the region.

Clarence Baguilat, DENR regional director, said denuded mountains in the six provinces of the region will be reforested by the indigenous peoples and indigenous cultural communities occupying the same to ensure that newly-planted tree seedlings will grow.

Under the program, the regional DENR will tap services of a family within the ruined watersheds and forests to plant trees in a one hectare forestland as well as maintain the same until the trees have grown.

Last year, the agency hired 7,733 individuals to maintain forests in Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Mountain Province, Kalinga, and Ifugao to boost the government’s effort to preserve and protect the region’s watersheds and forests to revitalize the country’s agriculture and energy sectors who get their water for irrigation, domestic and industrial uses from the Cordillera mountain ranges.

Baguilat said people have now felt negative effects of denuded mountains due to selfish desires to use the same for livelihood activities like establishment of commercial farms, especially with the onslaught of the El Niño phenomenon.

The Cordillera DENR’s initiative is result of advocacy of the Regional Development Council to lobby for support to awaken concerned government agencies to prioritize the watershed rehabilitation and management program to ensure the continuous flow of abundant water to the lowland communities.

The water that flows to the 13 major river systems which strands to the lowlands trace their headwaters from the Cordillera watersheds and forests, thus, the noticeable reduction in the water supply has greatly affected the production of farmers.—Dexter See