The concept of Rainforestation farming has been promoted as a strategy to rehabilitate degraded lands in order to restore the tropical rainforests. This concept is being implemented by IDIS and community partners in the rehabilitation of Panigan-Tamugan Watershed since 2012 when the UCARE project was implemented with funding support from the Foundation for the Philippine Environment. Rainforestation. This was also adopted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as a national strategy to order the integration of rainforestation farming strategy in the development of open areas and denuded forests to promote biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in protected areas and other appropriate forest lands. (Asio, 2019)
To update the knowledge of Bantay Bukid volunteers on this technology and check their actual implementation, the Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS) conducted a training last July 31, 2020 at Purok Sumpitan, Barangay Tawantawan, Davao City. Following the Local Government Unit’s guidelines against COVID-19, the Bantay Bukid volunteers convened together with IDIS staff and shared various experiences relating to previous and present rainforestation projects and how it impacted their lives and the environmental situation in the Panigan-Tamugan Watershed and Mt. Tipolog.
Bantay Bukid volunteers also learned essential techniques on bamboo propagation and production from Mr. Mark “Sultan” Gersava, Founder and Chief Executive Farmer of Bambuhay.
The training was centered in the rainforestation with the integration of bamboo production in which Mr. Gersava demonstrated to the participants how to properly grow a bamboo tree. He also explained the advantages of growing bamboos in rainforests especially in mitigating the impact of soil erosion and effective carbon sequestration. He also emphasized that bamboo grows easily and can be developed into various eco-friendly products that can help prevent plastic pollution and deforestation.
The training also served as an avenue for the Bantay Bukid volunteers to convey their problems and challenges while patrolling. Each cluster leader also reported some development on their areas such as the additional species of animals on the forest and fishes on the river that they observed.
At the end of the activity, IDIS turned over to the volunteers the backpacks that the Davao City Water District donated. A total of seventy-one backpacks were distributed which they can use on their daily patrols. Moreover, three smartphones were also given to three chosen volunteers. The phones were already installed with different applications that can be used during their monitoring. Those phones were donated by one of the Adopt-a-Riverbank Program adapters, Ms. Jennifer Vicente.
Bantay Bukid volunteers are continuously supported by IDIS with partners – Davao City LGU, Foundation for the Philippine Environment, DKA Austria and Misereor Germany.