Sunday, February 04, 2007
Saving Cordi's mossy forests (conclusion)
SCIENTISTS and environmentalists explain that the mossy forest serves as a sponge. It absorbs rain and turns fog that envelops it into water in what is called a "fog drip". It releases water gradually to form the rivulets that turn into springs, brooks and rivers that are the lifeblood of communities downstream.
That much is known and it's not much. They agree that beyond its crucial role in sustaining the watershed and the hydrological system, much has yet to be known about the mossy forest. This ecosystem surrounded by mist and fog is, until now, shrouded in mystery.
They agree that this wealth of biodiversity at the top of the forest systems contains flora and fauna that have yet to be discovered and studied for what they mean to the environment -- and for us who classify ourselves to be at the top of the animal kingdom.
What is sure is that the mossy forest is vanishing -- and with its plant and animal species that are endemic, or found only in one particular area and not in another mossy forest system. Some of these species are already extinct, while others are going before they can be found and given Latin-sounding tags.
The Philippines, too, has earned a tag, that of being a "biodiversity hotspot" for fast losing its "megadiversity", its once immense wealth of animal and plant life.
In Cordillera, children of this generation still hear elders mention "buwet", the local name for the cloud rat, but may never see it. If they chance upon one, it would be in the hands of hunters about to dress and cook it?
In Barangay Lias in Barlig, Mountain Province, Chairman Romeo Coffin mourned over the feathers of a giant birdshot down several years ago by hunters. That was after experts from the University of the Philippines (UP) in Los Baños confirmed they belonged to the Philippine eagle.
"The villagers now call me Kapitan Eagle," Coffin said, almost grudgingly, unsure whether it was a compliment. That was after he started acting locally, if not quixotically. He went around telling hunters to spare the bird, locally known as "lawi", and to report to him any sighting or nest find of the endangered specimen earlier believed to be found only in the mountains of the Visayas and Mindanao.
The bird's mossy forest territory extends to Agawa in Besao town and to Bayyo in Bontoc town. Coffin will find company in both villages as residents are into seedling production of indigenous tree and plant species, towards restoring the eagle's realm.
Forester Many Pogeyed, who helped the two villages secure fund support from the UN Development Program, said the twin conservation efforts are culture and community-based.
"Culture and community-based; this is not just a label, but a reality in these two villages," he stressed. "It's the villagers themselves who decided on and are implementing the mossy forest biodiversity projects," he added.
The project proponent and main implementor in Bayyo is its women's organization. The womenfolk are assisted by the barangay government and the community level of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
For the Agawa project, the Agawa Foundation, an organization of Besao natives now living in Baguio and headed by John Addag, applied for the UNDP fund grant.
As conduit, it releases the budget to the Lacma-an, Agawa, Gueday, Ambagiw, Tamboan or Lagat people's organization in Northwest Besao for actual project implementation.
The project process being applied in Besao was piloted four years ago in the northern barangays of Sagada, also in Mountain Province. The Bangaan-Fidelisan-Tanulong-Aguid-Madungo-Pide Association in Baguio and Benguet (BFTAMPABBS) accessed the UNDP small grants program fund and released it to the Barangay Association of Northern Sagada (Bansa) for project implementation.
The tapping of children made the Sagada mossy forest and headwaters enhancement project stand out. While it was patterned after the eco-walk program of Baguio, the children's component provided a hands-on opportunity for the village children to learn the traditional resource management system that their elders applied to the project.
While the villagers of Bayyo, Agawa and Northern Sagada admit that their efforts are modest in the midst of the enormous task of mossy forest conservation, they find these well-grounded.
Within the next two years, the implementors of the three projects will meet to compare notes and learn from each other the traditional way.
"Perhaps they can even agree to a moratorium on hunting within the mossy forest to allow the vanishing wildlife," Pogeyed said.
The wish is shared by Reynaldo Lopez Nauyac, a tribal elder who built a village for Ifugao woodcarvers at Asin Road in Baguio. Eight years ago, he returned home to Hungduan, Ifugao to live out his dream of helping restore the traditional way of maintaining the mossy forests that, for centuries, sustained the now endangered rice terraces. (RD)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star General Santos. (February 4, 2007 issue)
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