Group to Council: Implement, not amend, watershed code
AN ENVIRONMENTALIST group called on the Davao City Council to push for the full implementation of the Watershed Code, instead of approving its proposed amendment. Although the Davao City Council on Tuesday deferred the approval of the proposal amending Article 9 of Ordinance 0310-07, Series of 2007, otherwise known as the “Watershed Protection, Conservation and Management Ordinance,” Interface Development Interventions Inc. (Idis) said it is best to implement the code first before introducing any changes to it. “The most efficient way is that we implement the code first and then learn from the weaknesses that can be seen during its implementation. Only then can we know what specific provisions must be amended,” Mary Ann Fuertes, Idis executive director, said in a statement. She said the Watershed Management Council (WMC) is currently implementing the ground delineation of the areas identified in the code and spearheading the formulation of watershed management plans. “Don’t put the cart before the horse,” Fuertes said. “It’s counter-productive because we haven’t seen yet the extent of what the code can do before suggesting amendments. The code was passed last 2007 but we only started to implement it during the later part of 2011.” The proposed amendment, authored by Councilor Pilar Braga, was approved on second reading during the regular session last January 8 and was supposedly subject for third and final reading on Tuesday, but Majority floor leader Councilor Tomas Monteverde IV moved for the deferment due to some “legal issues.” “We cannot afford to pass an ordinance kung naay mga questions (because there are questions),” Monteverde said. Under the proposed amendment, construction in the conservation and agroforestry/agricultural non-tillage areas will be allowed if the project aims to harness renewable energy and has been granted an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) by the local Department of Energy and Natural Resources (DENR). Monteverde said the amendment came about after Hedcor proposed to put up an 11.5-megawatt (MW) Tamugan run-of-river hydro project in upper Tamugan, which is a part of the identified critical environmental areas in the Watershed Code. “Gi-prove man nila na safe daw didto, pero para ma-operate nila didto kinahanglan among ma-amend. I-exempt namo sila (They approved that it’s safe there, but before they can operate, we have to amend first. We will exempt them),” he said. “The development has raised concerns among local environmentalists who fear that the future water supply will be affected as the hydropower’s operations will curtail the river flow and reduce the water content in the aquifers,” Idis said. It added that Tamugan River has been identified in the terrain analysis study as a high groundwater recharge area. “This is one of the reasons why, in its original form, the Watershed Code has defined Tamugan River as a conservation area, hence prohibiting any commercial development in the area.” Fuertes called on Hedcor to present the project in a public forum so that stakeholders, including the Watershed Management Council, will be informed on the details and impact of the proposed renewable energy project. “Dabawenyos need to be reassured that the Hedcor project will not have an adverse impact on the aquifers. In the interests of transparency and public participation, Hedcor needs to address the public’s concern on this issue,” Fuertes said. (Arianne Caryl Casas, SUNSTAR DAVAO)
Davao’s watersheds home of PH’s endemic bird species
DAVAO CITY – SEVENTY percent of the Philippine inventory of endemic bird species has been confirmed to be living in the Mt. Talomo-Panigan watershed area. Results from a recent study conducted by the Philippine Eagle Foundation, Inc. (PEF) revealed that the watershed is home to at least 124 bird species as studied in a series of field surveys conducted from 1997-2012. The Philippines has currently 169 endemic bird species on record, 45 of which are found only in Mindanao. According to the report, 66 of the 124 species which were covered by the research study are Philippine endemic, while 24 of them are Mindanao endemic. This led the study authors to conclude that the watersheds hold an “impressive” percentage of local avian fauna. The study was commissioned by the Interface Development Interventions, Inc. (IDIS) using funds coursed from the USAID through the Foundation for the Philippine Environment (FPE). IDIS Executive Director Ann Fuertes said that this significant find underscored the importance of Davao’s watersheds in protecting and sustaining a rich biodiversity of organisms that can only be found in the Mindanao region. “Healthy watersheds are a vital reservoir of biodiversity which must be protected in order to sustain our local flora and fauna,” she said. Other than the Philippine Eagle, the report also identified that the Tarictic or Mindanao hornbill, Penelopides panini, is the second most threatened bird in the watersheds due to illegal pet trade and because it is also being hunted for food. According to the report, “four species are ‘vulnerable’, including the Silvery kingfisher Alcedo argentata, an inhabitant of clean and forested streams, and the Mindanao scops owl Otus gurneyi, a forest owl found only in Mindanao.” Dwindling forest cover has contributed much to the decline of the local populations. “While deforestation continues to be a major factor in the degradation of the bird habitats, the presence of unsustainable and unregulated economic, domestic and agricultural activities has also contributed to the destruction of these birds foraging and breeding areas.”, Fuertes said. The Talomo-Panigan watershed areas along with the adjacent Lipadas, are also the sites of aquifers which provide the current and future water supply of Dabawenyos. In recent years, corporate plantations have expanded into the area, clearing the fertile forest land to grow bananas and pineapples for export. Fuertes hopes that this discovery will spur more Dabawenyos to actively protect the remaining forest cover and to rehabilitate the cleared-out areas. “It’s important that Dabawenyos should come together to produce a collaborative multi-stakeholder watershed plan wherein different and sustainable courses of action will be identified by stakeholders to ensure an environmentally and economically healthy watershed,” she said. Among the potential economic benefits resulting from this study is the development of community led ecotourism activities along the watershed area. “Bird watching tours have been touted as the next best thing in attracting international and domestic tourists,” she said. In 2010, the Department of Tourism has announced that birdwatching tours are the next best thing in Philippine tourism. As a biodiversity hotspot, the Philippines has over 600 bird species with a high concentration of bird species per kilometer.
Envi org lauds latest Bukidnon LGU resolution against plantation expansion
Davao City – The Interface Development Interventions, Inc. (IDIS) welcomed the latest resolution from the Municipality of Maramag in Bukidnon calling for a moratorium on the expansion of bananas and pineapple plantations in the area. “More and more Mindanawons are slowly realizing that watersheds are a valuable resource that is vulnerable to contamination from the harmful pesticides that these monocrop plantations use.”, said IDIS Executive Director Ann Fuertes. Fuertes pointed out that , like Davao City, plantations have been blighting the upland areas of Bukidnon. “Too much reliance on agro-industries like these will result in the irreparable damage to the environment by way of floods and contamination of water aquifers. This effect can be felt even in Davao City because the local watersheds here are part of the Davao River Basin ecosystem, which starts from Bukidnon and ends in Davao.”, she pointed out. The Davao River Basin system is one of the eight major river basins on Mindanao island. So important is this that the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) has made it one of its priorities in its island wide program on watershed management and rehabilitation. Fuertes called the Maramag resolution “a step in the right direction.” “ But to give it more teeth, LGUs should follow it up with an ordinance so that this moratorium can be implemented with the full backing of the law.”, she added. On a national policy level, Fuertes said the Aquino administration should repeal Executive Order 807, issued by former president, Macapagal-Arroyo, to stop plantations from further exploiting the precious forest resource. “The root cause for this unrelentless expansion is because the previous administration has lifted the restrictions in the allowable size for banana plantations.”, she said, citing Executive Order 807 which lifted the limits for allowable hectarage for banana plantations. The restrictions on expansion were previously defined by laws (LOI 58 and LOI 709) made during the Marcos era which specifically puts limits to banana plantation areas to protect the country’s agricultural and forest lands. But EO 807 changed all that. “Now we are seeing the effect of unregulated expansion. From problems with pesticide contamination to soil erosion causing floods, by replacing our precious forest with monocrops, we are endangering the lives of our present and future generations.” “If we are to truly protect our watersheds on a long term basis, we should call for the repeal of EO 807 and impose limits on monocrop plantations .”, she said. (#)
Envi groups look forward to continued engagement with DENR on envi issues
DAVAO CITY – A month after the former Regional Executive Director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources was replaced, local environmentalists are eager to continue their engagement with the agency under its new Executive Director, Joselin Marcus Fragada. Interface Development Interventions, Inc. (IDIS) Executive Director Ann Fuertes said that the series of discussions begun by DENR earlier in the year should be continued so that the issues and concerns which were identified by environmental civil society organizations (CSOs) would be monitored with regards to their resolution. “Understandably, the regional DENR is in transition , following the assumption of the new Regional Director. But we look forward to the immediate resumption of DENR’s Interfacing Dialogue with CSOs so that we can follow up the agreements previously agreed upon so that we can track if these have been resolved.”, said Fuertes. Last January, the DENR XI had begun an interfacing activity with various environmental CSOs to find ways of collaboration among stakeholders for the management and protection of the natural resources in the region. The output of those discussions was the adoption of a matrix of issues and concerns , with their corresponding action points, which was constantly updated at every interfacing meeting. “There was a positive vibe coming off from that activity because it allowed us CSOs to thresh out and clarify issues with the DENR in a participative and collaborative manner.”, recalled Fuertes. “More importantly, it provided an opportunity for a convergence of activities from both sides, all for the goal of protecting the environment.” Among the issues identified for resolution in the matrix were qualified CSO representation in the Multipartite Monitoring Team (MMT) for banana plantations in Region 11 and access of CSOs to MMT reports submitted to the regional Environmental Management Bureau (EMB-XI) in the past five years. Also in the matrix is a commitment from DENR XI to take care of the remaining budget needed for the Watershed Management Council (WMC) activity of delineating the city’s watershed areas. “With the implementation of the Watershed Code already underway, it is imperative that the delineation of the areas protected by law should begin. Now that the City Government has already provided its own fund counterpart, it is about time that we follow up on the DENR’s commitment to provide its own share of technical and financial support as agreed upon during the discussions.”, said Fuertes.(#)
Indigenous trees help save the watershed, says envi org
DAVAO CITY – With more and more corporate social responsibility initiatives focusing on tree planting activities, the Interface Development Interventions, Inc. (IDIS) is calling to prioritize the use of indigenous species of trees in reforestation projects. “The use of indigenous trees takes into account that the local ecology is more conducive for native trees.”, said IDIS Executive Director Ann Fuertes. “If the goal of every reforestation activity is to recreate the forest ecosystem as close as possible to the original state of the forest, what better way to do this than by using native trees.” Until recently, reforestation efforts in the Philippines were undertaken using exotic species like gmelina and falcatta because they were easy to germinate and fast growing. But environmentalists contend that the use of exotic species leads to a negative impact on the local ecology because these are usually invasive and dominant over native species. “For instance, gmelinas are voracious nutrient absorbers. They deplete the environment of water and other nutrients that other plants need.”, Fuertes pointed out. “This is why conventional reforestation efforts failed in the past. The use of exotic species failed to ensure forest biodiversity , leading to the failure of forest habitat restoration.” The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has also embraced this paradigm shift with the emphasis of its National Greening Program on planting indigenous trees. By partnering with CSOs like IDIS, the DENR ensures the establishment of nurseries which will nurture indigenous tree saplings to meet the project demand. Through the NGP , DENR hopes to plant 1.5 billion trees in around 1.5 million hectares of public land for six years, starting from 2011 to 2016. In one such nursery established in Brgy Tawantawan, members of IDIS’s partner people organization, the Mt. Tipolog Bantay Kinaiyahan Association (MTBKA), care for various saplings of apitong, almaciga, lawaan and narra .These saplings will later be used as part of the rehabilitation efforts along the slopes of Mt. Tipolog. “More important, is that the use of indigenous tree species allows us to protect the watershed ecosystem. Since these trees have already adapted to the local soil and climate and generally require less water and fertilizer, the water in the underground aquifers will remain healthy and sufficient for generations of Dabawenyos.”, Fuertes said. (#)
Upland communities conduct 3D mapping of Davao’s watersheds
DAVAO CITY – For the first time, a detailed three dimensional (3D) map of the Panigan-Tamugan and Talomo-Lipadas watersheds will be created, with representatives from the upland communities taking an active part in its design and creation. Around 78 representatives from 53 local barangays and the Barangay Watershed Management Council (BWMC) turned up at the Tawantawan ElementarySchool in Barangay Tawantawan, Baguio District in Calinan, last Monday to attend an orientation on participatory 3D modelling and land use coding. The activity, which was organized by the environmental non-government organization Interface Development Interventions (IDIS), signalled the launch of the two-week 3D modelling and land use coding activity which aims to creat a model showing the extent of land use activities in the Talomo-Lipadas Watershed, which is the present source of water for Dabawenyos, and the Panigan-Tamugan Watershed, the future source of the city’s drinking water. IDIS Executive Director Ann Fuertes said that this activity will strengthen Davao City’s efforts to implement the Watershed Code. “The output of this activity, which is a 3D relief model of the two watersheds, will further help the city’s efforts to delineate the environmentally critical areas of our watersheds by giving a “bird’s eye view” of the whole environment, enhancing analytical skills and broadening viewpoints , particularly on how the upland is interconnected with the lowland.”, she said. “This will be particularly helpful in dealing with issues and conflicts associated with territory and resource use, especially in the implementation of the Watershed Code.”, Fuertes said. Using USAID funds coursed through the Foundation for the Philippine Environment (FPE), IDIS commissioned the Philippine Association for Intercultural Development Foundation (PAFID) to facilitate the activity. The PAFID, a nongovernment organization assisting indigenous communities, have long excelled in participatory 3d modelling, having used it with their partner indigenous communities for decades. As a community-based tool, the Participatory 3D modelling combines Geographic Information System (GIS)-generated data and the local community’s indigenous knowledge to create a stand-alone relief model. This provides stakeholders with an efficient and user friendly model which can be used as a basis for planning and management of the watershed areas. Tawantawan Barangay Captain Danny Gumapac, who welcomed the guests to the activity, said that he cannot help but be excited for this activity since this will help clarify issues of land use among upland communities. “ I hope this will be able to help the delineation activity but the success of this modelling is dependent on the cooperation of all the barangays present in the watershed areas. Together, we can make this model as realistic as possible with our total cooperation for this activity.”, he said. The use of 3D models in the context of collaborative natural resource management is not new. Since 1997, 3D models have been used to support the Ancestral Domain Claims of various indigenous groups. The Philippine government also uses this tool for its projects; currently, 8% of the initial 209 components of the National Integrated Protected Area System (NIPAS) have their own 3D models. “When completed, the model will also be an excellent tool for raising awareness on the hydraulics of watershed systems”, Fuertes added, referring to the upstream-erosion and downstream-sedimentation effects. Once finished, the 3D model will be turned over to the City Government which plans to display it in the People’s Park. (#)