IN line with its anti-illegal logging campaign, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has urged the public to buy lumber and wood products only from accredited lumber dealers.
Dr. Eddie Llamedo, DENR 7 public information officer, said his agency is continuing its inventory of the stockpile of lumber from accredited dealers to determine the volume coming in and the volume sold based on official receipts.
He said DENR wants to achieve zero illegal logging activities by preventing dealers from sourcing lumber from illegal sources.
DENR Regional Executive Director Isabelo Montejo also urged all their field officers to closely coordinate with the regional and provincial anti-illegal task force in joint enforcement operations with the military and the police.
Shipment
He said illegal loggers brought their logs to Metro Cebu through misdeclaration of shipment, expired documents, excess in volume as stated in the permit, or the permit is issued by a former DENR officer.
Llamedo said the DENR and other law enforcement units will also confiscate illegal forest products such as logs, lumber, fitches, charcoal, firewood and timber to be used as evidence in court cases.
Illegal forest products without court cases will be donated to the Department of Education (DepEd) for school repairs to other beneficiaries.
January to March
For 2014 alone, Llamedo said, DENR 7 has confiscated a total of 344.3 cubic meters of illegal lumber worth P3.4 million. From January to March this year, the agency confiscated a total of 44.2 cubic meters of lumber worth over P400,000.
“This means we are really running after illegal cutting of trees or illegal logging that could further destroy our environment and our protected landscape. If we strictly stop the transport of, for example charcoal, nobody in the Cebu City’s mountain barangays will cut trees and make charcoal,” Llamedo said.
He said President Benigno Aquino III issued Executive Order 23 on Feb. 1, 2012 to protect the remaining forest cover of the country.