In Isabela, there’s one forest ranger for every 4,601.7 has

ILAGAN, Isabela — In this country’s second biggest province, there are 126 forest rangers, 30 of them women, tasked to monitor 579,817 hectares of forests — or one forest ranger for every 4,601.7 hectares.

Worse, provincial environment and natural resources officer Felix Taguba said majority of their forest guards are "aging" and "due for retirement."

Based on the latest survey, the province still maintains 579,817 hectares of forests, to include parts of the vast Sierra Madre mountain range, home of most of the world’s most critically endangered species.

With the present number of forest guards, Taguba said each of them have to secure 4,601.7 hectares of forests for, ideally, 24 hours a day from intruders, illegal loggers and hunters.

Such a dire situation, according to Taguba, is aggravated by their extremely low budget to safeguard Isabela’s forests, considered still one of the country’s largest forest covers.

Based on their present budget, Taguba said only P3 is allotted to oversee every hectare of forest land every month, with each forest guard receiving just a measly P150 a month as field allowance.

"Despite these personnel and budgetary constraints, we are still able to minimize, if not totally control illegal logging in the province," he said.

Taguba has lately been on the hot seat as the local Catholic Church has called for his immediate relief for allegedly failing to rid the province of illegal logging.

However, Taguba said his men have apprehended more than 250,000 board feet of illegally cut lumber of various species since 2002.

Nearly half of these apprehensions took place in San Mariano and Ilagan towns and near the Sierra Madre mountain range.

As a result of these apprehensions, Taguba said 18 illegal logging cases have been filed against more than 30 people, although he admitted that no one has yet been convicted.

"Our record speaks for itself. We have not been remiss in our duties," he said.

Clarence Baguilat, regional director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said more than 7,000 board feet of illegally sawn lumber were confiscated in San Mariano town yesterday.

Earlier this week, an additional 8,000 board feet of "hot" lumber were seized in Naguillan town.

Besides, Taguba said the province is not in the list of identified illegal logging "hot spots" like Aurora and Quezon.

Earlier, local Church officials asked Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Angelo Reyes to relieve Taguba and his field personnel due to what they claimed was rampant illegal logging.

The Diocese of Ilagan, led by Bishop Sergio Utleg, issued a statement denouncing illegal logging in the province, and, together with the Diocesan Ecology Desk and other Church-based groups, threatened to lead a hunger strike if illegal logging persists.