Our ECO-resource stewards
When our own people - in the forests, in the seas, in the farms- realize what they have in their midst, what resources are around them, and what can be done with these resources, then that power of knowledge and awareness can be their stepping stones to sustainable life. Freedom and resource access should also be allowed them to maximize the benefits of abundant resources around them and for them to have fuller lives.
Private ownership of communal, public resources, however, has made life miserable for many generations of tenants and food producers throughout our country and the rest of the world. Sadly, government and public agencies, tasked with protecting the public, have taken the side of the wealthy and powerful and a number themselves have joined the rank of resource-grabbers.
Is there hope for this unjust system of ownership and governance to change?
The marginalized, powerless, and vulnerable groups have learned to barely survive on a day to day basis, often resorting to inefficient and ecological harmful means to allow their households to continue existing. This legacy of poverty and deprivation is passed on from one generation to another and sustained by an educational system and approach that emphasize global participation as global workers, causing locals to miss seeing, knowing , appreciating not only the beauty but the abundance of their own environment. Poverty and deprivation continue to push millions away from their resource-rich environments.
IF only students in our forests, in our seas, in our farms were taught about their own environment, what resources they could tap for them to proceed sustainably through their lifetime, and how to protect their environment like protecting their own lives, then our resources will always have caretakers, responsible, knowledgeable stewards that will, across generations, protect them in their lifetime.
If only we had special training, special eco-schools, that would provide forest -sea-farm or other resource residents with resource management degrees and more importantly, if these resource stewards, in turn, would be compensated or paid for taking care of our resources, then there will be no scarcity of concerned and capable resource stewards in our country and all throughout the world.
Among our resource stewards are our indigenous peoples who have, through their indigenous practices, survived across centuries in harmony with nature, with their environment but who have, sadly, been alienated from their ancestral lands by greed and abuse.
Again , is there room for a paradigm shift in our educational, employment, and governance systems so that our resource stewards become part of inclusive development programs and rewarded with sustainable access to the resources in their midst, so that they do not have to be forced, by poverty, to leave their resource-rich environment?
In the midst of climate change, protection and conservation of our natural resources are top priorities. Our resource stewards in the forests, in the seas, in the farms are among our best partners versus global warming. Shall we not urgently prioritize and entice and reward them to be our eco-stewards?
Back to our Camp 7 discussion, the forest area covers both municipalities of Talisay and Minglanilla. A recent news article noted that Talisay is expecting to have a 2014-2018 forest land use plan approved by the city council soon that will serve as "the core document to address the issues of open access to the city's forest and forestlands, and that will also serve as the city's plan to improve its forest resources so as to make them more productive and to provide socio-economic benefits to upland occupants."
We call on both municipalities to coordinate their FLUP for more effective protection and management of these forests in Cebu Province. We also hope that both municipalities will include the community residents, the adults and youth, the men and women, including the PWDs, in their FLUP and management of the forest and other resources. All should be co-owners of the forest and the resources there and all should be equal co-partners in any inclusive development plan related to these precious and abundant resources.
- Latest
