DENR, LGUs join forces for upland dev’t

BUTUAN CITY – In line with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s hunger mitigating program, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and local government units in Central Mindanao have joined forces for an upland development program, a regional environment official said.

The development came after a two-day seminar last weekend in Koronadal City that also paved the way for the implementation of the DENR flagship program currently implemented nationwide by Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Jose Atienza Jr.

Central Mindanao DENR Regional Executive Director Raquil-Ali M. Lucman said some 50 participants from their field and regional offices, including representatives of the provincial management office in Sarangani, municipal governments in Central Mindanao and Lake Sebu Ancestral Domain Claim Association led by Mr. Leo Tang joined the activity for the implementation of the three-year DENR Upland Development Program.

The program is a recognition of the forestry profession, Lucman said.

"For the first time, ibinalik ang pagkilala sa forestry profession sa pamamagitan ng DENR-UDP," he said.

On the other hand, Regional Technical Director for Forestry Muripaga T. Umpar called on the LGUs and other concerned government agencies and non-government organizations to share their time, talent and efforts in order for the program to succeed.

"We will not wait for our children or our grandchildren to ask us what we have done for our environment," Umpar said.

He said the two-day workshop seminar is also very vital in reviewing the different thematic maps for every watershed such as vegetative map, land classification map, and 16 more kinds of map.

In that same seminar, Dr. Bighani M. Manipula, RTD for Research, briefed the participants on site-species matching technology developed by the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau of the DENR.

"This technology, with the aid of PCARRD soil test kit, will do away with the hit-and-miss style of selecting the species best suited to the area," he said.

The DENR-UDP is envisioned to pump-prime the local economy through job generation in the rural areas, it was learned.

Upland farmers, preferably those who are organized into people’s organizations or cooperatives, will be paid for every seedling produced and for every tree planted under a contract with the DENR. They will also be paid for the maintenance of tree plantations established in their respective areas.