Vol. XXI, No. 201 [ Business World Online ]
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
GOVERNMENT AGENCIES and private groups have signed a memorandum of agreement to help reforest 10,000 hectares of watershed north of Metro Manila.
The signing on May 10 inside the Angat Watershed Reservation (AWR) in Norzagaray, Bulacan was led by Energy Secretary Angelo T. Reyes, chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Climate Change (PTFCC), with officials of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) and the Green Army Philippines Network.
AWR supplies water to run the 246-megawatt Angat hydroelectric power plant, provides potable water to Metro Manila, and irrigates no less than 25,000 hectares of rice land. It is a habitat of endangered fauna and a biodiversity hot spot.
Mr. Reyes said the agreement will also pave the way for a closer collaboration between the government, nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, academic institutions and other stakeholders to help mitigate climate change through the sequestration of about 70,000 tons of carbon per year.
The signing launched social mobilization measures identified during the Energy Summit in February, and forms part of the PTFCC’s climate change mitigation program.
Mr. Reyes also led a 10,000-seedling propagation activity. Around 400 participants from the University of the Philippines and the De La Salle University, Dumagat indigenous families living in the Angat watershed, soldiers assigned in the area and Napocor employees took part in the activity.
Republic Act 6395, which revised Napocor’s charter, requires the state-run firm to exercise complete jurisdiction and control over watersheds surrounding the reservoirs of hydroelectric and geothermal power plants.
Napocor’s Watershed Management Department was also tasked to implement efficient watershed management to sustain water-based electric power projects and contribute to biodiversity through forest protection, conservation and resource management.
The agreement allows the Green Army to mobilize and organize its members and partners to adopt areas within the watersheds by providing funds and undertaking reforestation such as seedling production, planting, maintenance and protection.
Mr. Reyes said the reforestation activity will reduce soil erosion and sedimentation in the reservoirs, enhance biodiversity and enhance the participation of communities inside the watersheds.
Earlier, PTFCC, the Department of Education and Napocor also signed a pact to integrate a subject or topic in climate change in the school curriculum. — AKKA
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