Saturday, April 12, 2008 Oledan: Integrated response By Radzini Oledan Slice of life
WE NEED an integrated institutional response in protecting the watersheds.
The degradation in the uplands is slowly taking its toll on the quality of our watersheds, which covers 38,200 hectares from the headwaters of Mount Apo down to Talomo Bay.
Watersheds play a vital role in maintaining the life support systems for the entire populace.
It is our drinking source, and the spring of many vital economic activities. However, its relative abundance, good quality, and easy access easily lead us to complacency if not total disregard on the impact of our daily activities to the environment.
Here in Davao City, major changes have occurred in the entire landscape and vegetation. From having densely forest cover in the past 30 years, most of the upland barangays have now barely 20 percent of their total lands covered with forests.
What used to be covered with primary forests, intact and rich in biodiversity is threatened by migration, land conversion, and other economic activities.
Land degradation in the uplands is both a major environmental as well as developmental issue. Upland agriculture then becomes an opportunity for economic development and preservation of environment when appropriate regulations supported by effective extension services are institutionalized.
Most of the uplands are public lands where majority of farmers have no land tenurial instruments and while the absence of these individual tenurial instrument does not impede them to continue their farming activities, some of those who are existing holders of the Certificate of Stewardship Contract (CSC) and Certificate of Ancestral Land Title (Calt) have expanded the agricultural areas.
In most cases, enterprising people and groups are able to maneuver their way and use these instruments to their advantage.
It is not enough that policies, systems, and programs are in place to reverse the current trend. Sustaining the initiatives could only be done if the people are involved and they can only do so if they have adequate information and land security is ensured.
The security of tilling the land is a vital pre-requisite for farmers to invest and sustain the uplands. So does the availability of good access road network, clean drinking water, basic health and educational services.
This calls for the convergence of resources and integration of programs and services made available to the people.
