Bohol environment official warns: Stop kaingin for charcoal

LILA, BOHOL, Philippines  – Kaingin, the dialect term for slash-and-burn system of clearing areas and cutting trees to be burnt into charcoal, has been found to be a common practice in the remote barangay of Hambawan in this town, according to Leonilo Lafuente, officer-in-charge of the Bohol Environment Management Office (BEMO).

Lafuente, after inspecting the area where several trees have been cut, got an admission from a resident, Felix Galeros, of doing kaingin for charcoal making.

Galeros said charcoal-making has been the source of livelihood of some residents in the barangay, and that they were allowed by the property owner, known only as Meding, who lives in nearby Brgy. Malinao to cut the trees for charcoal in the two-or-more-hectare area for a fee of P3,000.

There is not much farm activity here, said Galeros, because most of the residents leave for jobs somewhere else, while some are into carpentry and other activities just to survive with three meals a day.

Galeros admitted he has been making charcoal himself and buy some of those produced by his peers. He said he usually sells to Tagbilaran City about 70 to 100 sacks of charcoal per month at P100 per sack.

Lafuente conducted an on-the-spot lecture to the Galeros family about the environment and the need for a balanced use of natural resources to preserve the trees that would provide them livelihood.

He also warned Galeros of the illegal activity, telling the latter that of the dire results of environmental destruction when endemic trees, like hambabawan and lomboy that grow sparingly in the mountain slopes, are continually felled and burnt for charcoal to be sold in Tagbilaran, about 28 kilometers from this town.

Galeros thanked Lafuente for checking the situation and enlightening him and his family about the environment and the laws governing the wise use of the resources available for their livelihood.

Lafuente told The Freeman the situation was not only prevalent here but also in some hinterland towns and barangays of Bohol, adding that he would continue to visit other similarly situated areas to put a stop to the environmentally-destructive practice.

Barangay secretary Vilma Lagrosa, who represented Barangay Chairman Miguel Pagsiat, who was not around, said the environmental awareness was already raised during barangay assemblies in the past. Most residents were already aware of a municipal ordinance prohibiting them from doing kaingin and wholesale tree cutting but some people are hard-headed, she said.

About a kilometer uphill via a zigzag road from the barangay proper where the chapel and elementary school are located, several lomboy trees along the slopes by the roadside were indiscriminately pruned or felled for lumber, which were covered with leaves in an apparent way to hide the illegal act. Not far from the area was the visibly burnt cogon grasses, which in turn could destroy other endemic species.

Lafuente and company found in a nearby slope two dug-up top soil. One is already covered with soil signifying the newly-charcoaled trunks and twigs, while the other the newly-hauled charcoal.