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Friday, January 20, 2006
Espinoza: Protecting protected areas
By Fred C. Espinoza
One of the latest moves by the Arroyo administration — aside from the appointment of the secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as the President’s “chief of staff” — calls for the opening of a number of protected areas in the country to the private sector for their development as eco-tourism sites.
In a statement, Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWAB) executive director Virgilio Vitug said “the government needs the expertise and funding of the private sector in order to develop the 23 areas.
This would also give livelihood to the local communities and at the same time ensure that there is enough money to manage the areas.”
I hope our distinguished leaders of the Cebu Uniting for Sustainable Water (CUSW) will remain vigilant in the face of sweeping changes in government policies with respect to protected areas.
It is of paramount concern for the people in our community, therefore, to determine that any move in this direction be limited to eco-tourism and should not, in any way, subject our precious watersheds to destruction.
Earlier, Vitug admitted in public that “DENR does not have the expertise to run the areas as tourism sites because this is not their mandate.”
Under Republic Act 7586, or the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 1992, the designated protected areas are biologically important public lands (terrestrial, wetlands or marine) that serve as habitats of rare and endangered species of plants and animals.
Biogeographic zones and related areas ecosystems may also be classified as protected areas.
Protected areas are categorized as national parks, strict nature reserves, wildlife sanctuary, and protected landscapes and seascapes.
With these new development, we expect our CUSW leaders will intensify their efforts to raise the level of awareness on the importance of watersheds to the water supply in Metro Cebu. It must be borne in mind that although the DENR management has assured the nation that the privatization of 23 areas will be “basically non-extractive, since they will be utilized as eco-tourism,” the agency has yet to come up with a department order to set the rules on the co-management of protected areas for eco-tourism.
In this connection, it would be significant to know whether the CUSW has realized its plan to establish a “land use and water resource management masterplan for the central Cebu watersheds” of Mananga, Kotkot and Lusaran to keep off trespassers.
As a multi-sectoral coalition that aims to protect water resources in central Cebu, the situation demands that CUSW do everything to intensify its educational campaign on environmental and water issues in our province, as many local government officials still do not recognize the importance of the watersheds to water supply in Metro Cebu.
Given a lack of funds and expertise, the government is seeking proposals from firms, local government units and non-government groups for the development of eco-tourism sites in the following areas:
* Northern Luzon: Batanes, Hundred Islands and Mt. Pinatubo;
* Southern Luzon: Mt. Makiling, Tagaytay/Taal Volcano, Mt. Isarog, Mayon Volcano, Bulusan Volcano, Apo Reef, Mt. Guiting Gutting – El Nido and Tubbataha.
* Visayas: Sonoton Caves, Lake Danao, Mt. Kanlaon, Olango Island, Bohol, Tañon Strait and Apo Island; and * Mindanao: Siargao, Agusan Marsh, Mt. Apo and Lake Sebu.
At present, protected areas in the country cover more than three million hectares of land and water. Of the 101 protected areas nationwide covered by various presidential proclamations, only eight areas have been legislated as such, the DENR says.
It was also revealed that the Eco-Tourism Council — composed of the DENR and the departments of tourism, interior and local government and education — is proposing to group the protected sites into clusters “to pave the way for packaged tour itineraries.”
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (January 20, 2006 issue)
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