ILOILO CITY — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Western Visayas (DENR-6) has strengthened its monitoring of possible abuse of trekkers particularly at the Panay Mountain Range (PMR).
In a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Fred Canto of DENR-Western Visayas said they also tapped people in local communities to serve as forest protection officers called “Bantay Gubat” in areas covered by the PMR.
As of the moment, there are 725 forest protection officers or “Bantay Gubat” in the different areas of PMR.
The “Bantay Gubat” was organized through the implementation of Forest and Climate Protection (ForClim) Panay, a project funded by the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, through the Deutsche Gessellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
Canto is the DENR focal person for the ForClim-II project. The project began in late 2014 and is scheduled to end this February.
Canto said they also strengthened their relationship with local government units and people’s organization to help monitor the activities of trekkers.
There are a number of trekking areas which are under the management of DENR like natural parks. Some of these are in towns of Igbaras, Maasin, Lambunao, Alimodian and Dingle in Iloilo province and Sibalom town in the province of Antique, he said.
“Before they proceed to the site there is an orientation conducted by the protected area staff or superintendent,” he said.
Canto noted that there are also trekking sites, which are not within the jurisdiction of the DENR, and trekkers did not register with the LGU if they go to the area.
“Sometimes that caused damages or destruction of our forest area,” he said, citing forest fire as one.
Meanwhile, Canto said the Department of Tourism is also coordinating with them regarding the concern on trekkers as activity also serves as an eco-tourism activity in the region and some trekkers are coordinating with their respective municipal tourism offices.
He then reminded trekkers of their responsibility to protect the forest while doing their activities in the mountain.
Edwin Domingo, of the DENR Foreign-Assisted and Special Projects (FASPs) stressed that the government is now fast tracking its efforts to enhance its forest protection program.
He said there is a need for cooperation of concerned government agencies and LGUs to curb the issues on forest protection.
The Panay Mountain Range covers 19 towns from the provinces of Aklan, Antique and Iloilo.
These include the towns of Madalag, Malinao, Libacao and Ibajay in Aklan; towns of Pandan, Sebaste, Culasi, Laua-an, Bugasong, Patnongon, Valderrama, San Remigio and Sibalom in Antique; and San Joaquin, Miag-ao, Tubungan, Leon, Janiuay, and Lambunao in Iloilo province.
A total of 149,000 hectares of protected areas are covered by the ForClim project. (Cindy Ferrer/PNA)
