Catarman, Northern Samar - Northern Samar Governor Raul Daza recently met a group of provincial officials, environmental specialists, academicians, municipal agriculturists, and representatives from different non-government organizations (NGOs) and people’s organizations (POs), to join in the recovery of the local forests.
Daza, during the two-day Community Forest Management Planning Workshop, expressed apprehension at the rate local forest resources are declining, with the slow regrowth of fallen timber and other forest vegetation.
Daza’s concern finds ground in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 2005 data which reported that Northern Samar have 68,179 hectares of forests, or only about 20%, out of its 349,800 hectares total land area. The province has to maintain at least 30% forest cover from its total land area to be ecologically functional, said environmental specialist Rowena Pabia of the Provincial Government Environment and Natural Resources Office (PGENRO), whose opinion was joined by community development assistant Bernard Rosila, also from PGENRO.
As an initial step, Daza organized in September this year the Provincial Forest Project Development Task Group, a composite team from PGENRO; DENR; University of Eastern Philippines, Colleges of Forestry, Agriculture and Sciences; and the Nortehanon Access Center (an NGO), to rehabilitate and restore forest resources.
The group, chaired by PGENRO head Camille Sarmiento, recently convened along with other NGOs involved in environmental protection, and community-based forest management organizations, for the Provincial Forest Management Planning Workshop.
The activity resulted in the crafting of a vision, mission and strategy for forest conservation, protection, research, agro-forestry development, livelihood development, advocacy and capability-building for community-based forest management (CBFM) organizations. One among the many programs identified was the reforestation of denuded forest areas using indigenous species like lawaan, narra and molave.
Shan Ali of Grameen Bank Australia, who was a guest during the workshop, appreciated Daza and the group for taking a significant move in this common global concern.
Daza has recently approved the inclusion of reforestation and livelihood support programs for CBFM areas in the 2008 annual investment plan of the provincial government. It has a funding support of more than a million pesos. (Arlyn C. Tepace, Information Officer I)
