Cordillera teams tasked to check forest destruction
[ Manila Bulletin Online ] September 7, 2008
By DEXTER A. SEE
BAGUIO CITY – Alarmed by the rapid pace of forest and watershed denudation, the Cordillera Regional Development Council (RDC) approved the creation of quick-response teams.
The teams are tasked to prevent the destruction of forests and watersheds in the region, particularly at tri-boundary of Benguet, Ifugao, and Mountain Province. They will focus their efforts on identified "hot spots", such as the Mount Pulag, Mount Polis, and Mount Data reservations.
The quick-response teams will be composed of personnel of government agencies, local government units, and non-governmental organizations. The composition of the teams is in recognition of the complexity of the forest-destruction problem that undermines the efforts and capability of the Cordillera office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
The regional DENR office is handicapped by the lack of forest officers and logistics in its efforts to hasten the solution of the forest-denudation problem.
RDC said the teams will tap the services of agencies and organizations whose mandate and mission is to ensure sustainable development through the judicious use of natural resources and maintenance of peace and order.
These include the DENR, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Agriculture (DA), National Irrigation Administration (NIA), National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), Philippine National Police (PNP), and local government units.
RDC, the region’s policy-making body, cited the need to address the problem on forest and watershed destruction. It said that if not stopped, watershed destruction could result in the loss of water resources for electricity generation, irrigation for agriculture, industry and household use.
The tri-boundary of Benguet, Mountain Province and Ifugao and other areas such as Mount Pulag, Mount Polis, and Mount Data serve as headwaters of the Agno River, Chico River, and Magat River that support hydroelectric plants for the Luzon grid and irrigation systems in Northern Luzon.
These areas used to be parts of the central Cordillera forests, which were blessed with a rich bio-diversity of wild plants and animals.
_______________________________________________________________