ADB, JICA set P1.6 billion for rehab of Cordillera watersheds

BAGUIO CITY – At least P1.6 billion will be made available by two prestigious foreign lending institutions to rehabilitate the rapidly deteriorating watersheds in the Cordillera particularly in Mountain Province and Ifugao, starting third quarter of this year.

Out of the said amount, P900 million from the Asian Development Bank in the form of a loan will be utilized for the rehabilitation of the Chico River watershed basin that strands from Mountain province and Kalinga while P800 will come from the Japan International Cooperating Agency and will be spent for the massive reforestation of the Ifugao watersheds.

Clarence Baguilat, regional director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the Cordillera, said the agency will make sure that the funds will be utilized for its purpose so that the denuded forests will be able to regain its beauty in the next five to ten years once the trees to be planted grown.

The influx of international support will lessen rapid deterioration of watersheds and forests after the onslaught of strong typhoons that resulted in numerous deaths and damaged many properties.

The ADB assistance is intended for the agency’s integrated natural resources and environmental management project within the jurisdiction of the Chico river basin while the JICA funds will be for the reforestation of the Ifugao watersheds for a three-year period.

According to Baguilat, the funding agencies gave importance to the reforestation of the Ifugao watersheds because it serves as the watershed basin for the 360-megawatt Magat dam that generates power for the Luzon grid and provides irrigation water for vast tracks of agricultural lands in the Cagayan Valley .

On the other hand, he explained the ADB project is focused within the Chico river to slowly return the rich volume of water flowing into the river system to sustain the irrigation of thousands of hectares of farms in Kalinga, Isabela and parts of Cagayan since the same river system connects with the Cagayan river, the longest river in Northern Luzon.

Aside from reforestation, the two vital watershed management projects are aimed at empowering host communities to be the stewards of their environment through agro-forestry whereby the fruits that will be produced by the trees will be part of their compensation so that they will not be tempted to cut the trees for domestic and commercial purposes. -- Dexter A. See