DENR to hire youths, tillers in 2 regions to plant trees, survey lands

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is tapping students, out-of-school youths and poor upland farmers in its land distribution and forest protection efforts, as it opens more than 16,700 “emergency” jobs in Region 2 (Cagayan Valley) and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza said the hiring of youths and farmers in the two regions “is in response to a directive of President Arroyo, tasking her Cabinet to carry out emergency employment projects for the remainder of the year.”

“We thought it best that our workforce in the reforestation and forest protection effort and land distribution is augmented with the additional manpower given the pivotal role of these activities in the overall thrust of President Arroyo’s program on poverty alleviation,” he said.

Atienza said P116.7 million has been set aside for the emergency work program, which will be implemented up to January next year.  

He said some P100 million would be used to mobilize 15,644 residents of upland communities to reforest their respective areas with fruit trees while growing cash crops. 

The project would cover a total of 9,876 hectares – 7,650 hectares in CAR and the rest in Region 2.

On the other hand, Atienza said P16.7 million would be used to pay 1,041 out-of-school youths who would be hired as forest guards (843) and land survey workers (198). 

At present, the DENR said Region 2 and CAR have only 361 and 292 regular forest guards, respectively, watching over some 995,000 hectares of forestlands in 76 towns.

The emergency forest guards are expected to be deployed in three illegal logging hot spots in Region 2 – San Mariano in Isabela, Sta. Ana in Cagayan, and Nagtipunan in Quirino – and in three “priority” areas in CAR, particularly along the boundary of the three provinces linked by Mt. Pulag and Mt. Data, in the mountainous towns of Kabayan and Baguias in Benguet, Tinoc in Ifugao, and Buako in Mt. Province.