Bohol Provincial Board tackles 'thinning' Banacon

CEBU, Philippines - After learning of the massive cutting down of mangroves at the Banacon Mangrove Forest, the Provincial Board of Bohol during a joint committee hearing last Friday pushed that all those caught inflicting any more damage to the said coastal forest shall be dealt with according to the existing applicable environmental laws.

“A clear damage has been done. This committee recommends the filing of appropriate charges against those who are caught cutting up mangroves in Banacon (Mangrove Forest),” said Bohol PB member Alfonso Demalerio upon learning of the reports of the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office in Talibon and of the environmental group Knight-Stewards of the Sea, Inc. or Seaknights.

The Bohol PB Committees on the Environment headed by Demalerio and on Peace and Order headed by PB member Mafe Camacho-Lejos called on a joint committee hearing late last week after The FREEMAN published a report last August 25 on the damage made to Asia’s largest coastal forest in Banacon.

Edgar Ricafort of the Office of the Protected Area Superintendent, which is under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources tasked to monitor the Banacon Mangrove Forest in Getafe town, said that in their latest survey of the area, they observed “overharvesting” of the supposed protected area of mangroves.

The Banacon Mangrove Forest is considered the biggest in Asia for covering 600 hectares in size based on the DENR record. But because of the alleged “illegal cutting of mangroves,” about 200 hectares of it are now “patches” along the corridor where local and foreign tourists pass through to get a view of this eco-tourism attraction, said Alejandro Estopa, also from the DENR.

Engineer Romeo Cabading of the Seaknights, who also carried out an ocular inspection in the area, said that inner parts of the forest are also balding, as “cutters would opt for a portion to hide their crime.”

The cut mangrove trees being hardwood are made as foundation support for the increasing seaweed production in the area, and for house construction. These are also highly preferred for fuelwood and charcoal because of their very high heating values comparable to that of coconut shell charcoal.

Moreover, mangrove trees are popular for their high strength and durability. In fact, according to a DENR primer on values of mangroves, the latter exceed the strength requirements for class C1 of Philippine timbers; hence, are suitable for structural purposes. In coastal villages, mangrove trees are generally used for posts, for skeletal framework of small houses and for poles of “baklad” or fish fence. 

Ricafort said that the Banacon Fisherfolks and Mangrove Planters Association, which was issued the Community-Based Forest Management Agreement for the entire Banacon Island of which the forest is included, by the DENR in 2002, was supposed to be “capable enough to manage and protect,” as it was under evaluation prior to the issuance of the contract, and that its officers and members committed to protecting the forest before they signed the agreement.

But Dioscoro Canlobo III, president of BAFMAPA, said that not all the planters are BAFMAPA members. And if they are, they can not stop them from cutting mangroves, as once they do, they would only reason out that they plant those mangroves hence they have the right to cut them.

Canlobo also said that a large part of the plantation, which is divided into several blocks, is allegedly owned by Cebuanos like a certain lawyer named Democrito Mendoza, businessman Peter Yu, among others.

These “big-time Cebuanos” reportedly have “people under them” who actually “man their own shares” of the forest, Canlobo further said.

But Ricafort said that based on their records, the entire forest is still under the stewardship of the BAFMAPA, and that no private individuals could own such being inalienable in nature.

Of the many suspects, so far a certain Jason “Siwik” Torion was apprehended last month.

Demalerio said that Torion should be charged criminally for violating environmental laws so such would serve as a lesson to the other illegal cutters.

But Canlobo said that Torion is just a small part of the big problem; that if the government would pin him down, it might create a chaos in the area, especially that the people in Banacon still largely depends on the mangroves.

Lejos, for her part, said that the people still do not see the importance of mangroves to the ecosystem, hence, they must also be informed first; otherwise, there would be bigger and deeper conflicts ahead.

For his part, lawyer Raul Barbarona of the Environment Legal Assistance Center said that the “owners” should be organized and that the CBFMA should be reviewed, and if BAFMAPA is still capable of managing the forest.

Barbarona said he believes the cutting down of mangroves is not just a small trade.

He cited that last month, they intercepted a delivery of 10,000 cut mangrove lumbers being delivered to Hingutanan town. Each tree is sold for P2. They were told that those were from Inabanga, another town of Bohol near Getafe. But Barbarona said that some of those, if not all, were from Banacon, being the largest plantation of mangroves in the whole of Bohol. – Liv G. Campo/MEEV   (THE FREEMAN)