MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur, Dec. 6 (PIA) --- The Department
of Environment and Natural Resources of the Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao (DENR-ARMM) further intensifies its greening program to reduce the
effects of climate change in the region.
Kahal Kedtag , Regional Environment
and Natural Resources Secretary, said DENR-ARMM, will plant one million trees
starting in Maguindanao.
“Ang ginagawa natin dito ay ang pagsulong at pagtulong sa
climate change mitigation (Our objective is to help in climate change
mitigation),” Kedtag said.
The
reforestation is in line with the National Greening Program.
Kedtag said the seedlings
available for the project can reforest up to 50,000 hectares of land.
The watersheds in Dimapatoy, South
Upi and Kabulnan – all in the province of Maguindanao – are the priority areas
to be planted with the seedlings.
The region – composed of the mainland provinces of
Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur and the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and
Tawi-Tawi – has a total of 585,000 hectares of forest land.
ARMM
Governor Mujiv Hataman has implemented a total log ban in the region through
Executive Order 001 issued in December 2011. The order prohibits the cutting of
trees in the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and
Tawi-Tawi.
ARMM
now has 301,000 hectares of forest cover, an increase of 6.7 percent compared
with the 282,640 hectares in 2003 after a “precise geo-mapping, tagging and
monitoring.”
The
DENR-ARMM has commissioned the local community, mostly of Teduray ethnicity, in
Datu Odin Sinsuat town to raise the seedlings at the department’s central
nursery at Sitio Lomboy, Brgy. Awang.
More
than 400 residents, joined in the bagging of the seedlings, and availed
themselves of jobs under the cash-for-work program of DENR-ARMM.
Over 200 of the participants are members of the LoPaSiNaKa
(Sitio Lomboy, Pagapulan, Siawan and Nabilan) People’s Organization.
One
of the beneficiaries is 24-year old Regie Agustin who has a child and needs to
make both ends meet since he earns only P100 a day as a driver of
‘habal-habal’, a motorcycle that ferries passengers to remote villages.
“Dati
akong habal-habal driver, P100 lang kinikita ko sa isang araw at nahihirapang
tustusan ang gastusin sa bahay. Ngayon kahit papano nakatutulong na ako sa
panggastos sa bahay (I used to be a ‘habal-habal’ driver earning P100 daily,
which is not enough to support the needs of my family. At least, I now
contribute more to the family’s expenses),” said Agustin who now earns as much
as P500 a day from bagging seedlings.
“Noong
nakapagtrabaho ako dito sa LoPaSiNaKa, nagkakapera po ako ng sapat. Kontra nung
driver ako ng habal-habal, tama lang po ang aking kinikita. Minsan may naiuuwi
sa pamilya, minsan wala, tama lang sa gasoline (When I started working with
LoPaSiNaKa, I was able to earn enough. When I was a ‘habal-habal’ driver, there
were days my earnings would only be enough to buy gasoline, no money to bring
home to my family), Agustin added.”
“Nagpapasalamat
nga po ako kay Sec. Kedtag dahil yung project na ito ay dito
Mahogany,
molave, narra, and coffee, among others, are raised in the half-hectare nursery
in Lomboy.
Lauriano
Saldino, 61, president of the association, said the community is thankful of
the opportunity. “Kapag maitanim na po ito sa amin, kami naman po ang
poprotekta dito, at aalagaan hanggang sa paglaki (We would take care of these
seedlings and we would protect these until they grow into trees).” (BPI/PIA-10)
No comments