486-hectare Aurora forest project unveiled

MA. AURORA, Aurora — A 498-hectare forest project, which includes a mangrove plantation that can counter tsunamis, was launched here by local officials and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).

The project, dubbed"DBP Forest," is being funded by a lending program of the DBP, which invested roughly P70 million in 22 projects nationwide last year.

The project will cost P9.2 million, around P7.2 million of which will be provided by the DBP. The rest will be shouldered by the provincial government and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Patricia Sto. Tomas, DBP chairperson, said the program is not a loan but a form of partnership among the DBP, the provincial government and the other stakeholders. "This is flowing back to the people what the DBP has earned," she said.

Sto. Tomas, along with Sen. Edgardo Angara and Gov. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo, presided over the ceremonial tree-planting.

With them were DBP senior vice president Corazon Conde, DBP directors Ramon Durano IV and Miguel Romero and Vice Gov. Annabel Tangson.

Angara said he has released an initial P5 million to jumpstart infrastructure development in two of the project sites in this town. He noted that the province is ideal for this kind of projects, particularly mangrove.

"Out of 60 mangrove species in the world, 57 are right here in Aurora," he said.

"We have rich and bountiful natural resources, particularly our mountains that’s why we need to preserve it," Angara-Castillo added.

The province, which boasts of having the largest forest cover among the provinces in the country, also has a 332-kilometer coastline, considered the longest nationwide. It was also identified as one of the country’s 170 priority sites for biodiversity conservation.

Benjamin Mina, provincial environment and natural resources officer of the DENR, said they have identified four sites in the province for the DBP Forest Program.

These are the 104-hectare rattan and endemic forest tree plantation in Sitio Dimasalan; and 270-hectare rattan and bamboo agroforestry plantation in sitios Dimasalan and Dimutol, both in Barangay Dianasan in this town; a 74-hectare site in Barangay Zabali in the capital town of Baler covered by the Dibudalan Mountain Forest Reserve; and a 50-hectare mangrove reforestation project in Barangay Cozo, Casiguran town.

Mangrove swamps, which are breeding grounds of fishes and crustaceans, have immense ecological and economic importance. Mangrove forests prevent coastal erosion and serve as natural guard against strong waves and tsunami.

Among the high-value fruit trees that would be planted in the province are pomelo, mangosteen, jackfruit, lanzones, rambutan, and durian.

Other trees rees to be planted are katmon, molave, aduas, bunga and duhat, ylang-ylang and banaba. For mangroves, the bakawan species was selected.

The province was chosen for this project on the basis of a criteria set by the DBP such as poverty incidence, watershed significance, incidence of soil erosion and activeness and capability of the partner organization.

Mina said environmental and socio-economic benefits would accrue from the program among which are soil, water and biodiversity conservation, climate improvement, protection of coastlines from seawaves, employment generation, poverty alleviation and food sufficiency among others.

DBP consultant and former DENR undersecretary for technical services Rolando Metin said that at least 500 families would benefit from the program in the province.

The program was conceptualized in December 2004 as an offshoot of the Infanta tragedy. Launched in April 2005 with an initial seed money of P50 million from the Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW) of Germany, the program was designed to protect the coastal areas, the conservation of soil and water in the uplands, and improving breeding grounds for terrestrial and marine aquatic life.

An Asian Development Bank (ADB) report released early this year said that the country, which has been struck recently by floods and landslides linked to environmental degradation, had the worst record of preserving its forest among Asian countries. The ADB placed the average annual deforestation in the Philippines at 1.4 percent from 1990 to 2000, the highest in Asia

The report cited Korea as having the best record of preserving its environment with 63.3 percent of its land area covered by forest, followed by by Malaysia (58.7 percent), Taiwan (58.1 percent), Indonesia (58 percent), Laos (54.4 percent), Cambodia (52.9 percent), Myanmar (52.3 percent) and Thailand (28.9 percent).

The DBP Forest Program supports and encourages the reforestation of open and denuded areas through the planting of relatively high-value fruit trees and other useful plant species.

It complements the government’s effort to preserve the environment and to step up reforestation efforts not only to prevent further loss of lives and property during natural calamities, but also to preserve livelihood and the overall economic strength of the country.