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Monday, September 15, 2003
Maitum mayor wants forests re-assessed
MAITUM, Sarangani -- Maitum Mayor George Yabes recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Department of Environment Natural Resources (DENR) and the Philippine Environmental Governance (EcoGov) Project in an effort to gather reliable information on the real condition of the town's forest and forestlands.
The MOA spelled out the specific assistance the DENR and the EcoGov Project would provide as well as the particular responsibilities of the local government in the re-assessment of its timberlands.
The Maitum Municipal Council appropriated P200,000 for funding of the activities to be implemented under the EcoGov Project.
The signed MOA calls for the review, validation and implementation of a Forest Land Use Plan (FLUP) in Maitum, Sarangani.
Under the plan, the local government will have a more active role in the allocation of forestlands and determination of allowable activities related to its management.
It can be recalled that Maitum once hogged the national headlines because of alleged anomalies in the implementation of a community-based forest management (CBFM) agreement within the municipality's forestlands.
The Zion Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative, which was party to the agreement, was accused of using it as a cover for illegal timber-cutting operations.
The controversy, which led to the suspension of the agreement, prompted Mayor Yabes to take a more active role in the management of Maitum's forestland.
The interest of the Maitum officials in forest management was further heightened when they visited Nueva Vizcaya in Northern Luzon, which holds the distinction of being a model for a local government-initiated and forest co-management program.
The Maitum FLUP exercise is seen as a prelude to a meaningful and effective co-management of the forestlands in Sarangani Province, Sarangani Provincial Environment and Natural Resources (Penro) officer Ismael Andang said.
He added that his presence in the MOA signing activity was "a clear manifestation of the commitment of the Provincial Government to support the efforts of the municipality" in coming up with a better management arrangement for the forests of Maitum.
He also said that he has high hopes that "this initiative will be realized not only in paper but in action as well."
The Maitum FLUP is a pilot project supported by the Province under the office of the Penro that is to be replicated in other municipalities.
Under the EcoGov Project, which is assisted by the United States Agency for International Development (USaid), the LGU will have a more active role in all activities related to the upland.
"We hope we will not be alone. This is a good challenge and the province is here is to help push us," Mayor Yabes said. Sarangani Province has an estimated 196,727 hectares of forest and forestland.
EcoGov Central Mindanao team leader Nicolas Uriarte said the MOA will help carry out the dreams of the Maitumanons for a sustained supply of water, a dwindling resource in Mindanao, and timber aside from a healthy environment.
(September 15, 2003 issue)
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