2 groups ink pact with Negros farmers to preserve forest

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines - – Solar power in exchange for reforestation.

Two environment groups have forged a deal with the farmers of the upland Barangay Camalanda-an in Cauayan town, Negros Occidental to creatively preserve their forest.

Their homes will be lit up with solar energy, and in exchange, they will establish a 1.5-hectare bio-fence in the rainforest farm covering nine forest patches in Camalanda-an.

The Ecological and Agricultural Development Foundation, Inc. (EADFI) and the Foundation for Philippine Environment (FPE) have signed a memorandum of agreement with the members of Camalanda-an Agro-Forest Association, Inc. (CAFA) for their Solar Home System project.

The agreement provides that CAFA would also implement a scheme for forest patrolling, bio-fencing and corridor establishment in the nine forest patches they cover, work closely with its members to ensure that the pact is complied with and resolve issues and concerns related to the project among its members.

The signing was held during the ceremonial lights-on of Solar Home System at the Camalanda-an National High School last Tuesday.

Twenty-four homes have each been installed with a 120-watt solar panel that could light a bulb, charge a cellphone and power appliances like television and radio. Each panel costs P28,000.

“This formula will be beneficial not just (for) the continued protection of the forest reserve but also (for) the community that helps preserved it,” EADFI executive director Aladino Moraca said of the trade off.

CAFA president Jemuel Dulla, for his part, said the Solar Home System will improve their means of communication, especially in reporting to the Cauayan municipal government.

“I am glad that we now have our own source of electricity. Before, we spent almost a gallon of kerosene a week just to light our house,” beneficiary Casimero Nabalitan said.

FPE chief executive Nestor Carbonera said they hope to install more solar panels in the community in June “to help not only the people but also preserve the environment.”

The switch-on also signaled the start of Phase 2 of the EADFI-supported Southern Negros Cauayan Forest Reserve Biodiversity Conservation Project.

The switch-on in Brgy. Calamanda-an came just two days after the inauguration of the 22-megawatt solar power farm in San Carlos City. The P1.9-billion power project is the country’s first large-scale commercially financed and commissioned solar power plant.