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Friday, January 16, 2004
Plan limits human activities in areas near water sources
By Liberty A. Pinili
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
HUMAN activities will be restricted in areas surrounding the proposed site of the Mananga and Lusaran dams, according to the management zoning plan for the central Cebu protected landscape drafted by the environment department.
The restriction is meant to protect Metro Cebu’s water sources, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said.
A 40-meter buffer on both sides of all bodies of water inside the protected watersheds of central Cebu—Mananga and Kot-kot-Lusaran—will also be delineated and closed to human settlement.
The sites of the proposed water supply facilities and all bodies of water are named riparian zones, where human activities must be limited or controlled as provided for in the National Integrated Protected Areas System (Nipas) Act.
The Tabunan forest covering portions of the mountain barangays of Tabunan (Cebu City) and Gaas (Balamban town) is identified as strict protection zone and is closed to all human activities except for scientific studies or religious or ceremonial rites by indigenous people.
The Tabunan forest is a habitat of numerous endemic plants and animals.
A source at the DENR 7 said if there are people living in the strict protection and
riparian zones, they will have to be relocated to portions of the Central Cebu Protected Landscape (CCPL) that are identified as multiple-use zones.
The management zoning plan is aimed at safeguarding biodiversity in the protected areas as well as provide a guide for development and wise use of resources there.
The CCPL comprises the protected watersheds of Buhisan, Mananga and Kotkot-Lusaran, and the national parks of Sudlon and Central Cebu. These five protected areas were separately proclaimed and had respective management plans, but the DENR moved for their integration to improve the implementation of conservation programs.
The CCPL covers an area of about 29,000 hectares.
According to the DENR’s profile on CCPL, there are 105,975 people living in the protected landscape with a population density of 2.4 persons per hectare.
(January 16, 2004 issue)
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