A LOCAL environment group slams the decision of the Protected Area Management Board (Pamb) to reopen the Mt. Apo Natural Park to trekkers later this month.
“Idis (Interface Development Interventions) is against the reopening of Mt. Apo because it has not fully recovered from the forest fire one year ago. We should let it rest first,” Chinkie Pelino-Golle, Idis acting executive director, said in an interview with SunStar Davao Friday, March 31.
Pamb members on March 23 passed Resolution 01, series of 2017, which seeks to lift the prohibition to climb and reopen Mt. Apo again to the trekkers.
The reopening has drawn criticisms and initiated a collective call from other environment groups and individuals, saying there are still other sites in the country that could be a mountaineering spot aside from Mt. Apo.
Pamb, on one hand, believes this would provide direct and indirect livelihood to the communities and the local government who will be benefiting from the income generated from the tourism in Mt. Apo.
Golle said, however, that the economic benefits must come second and the protection of the country’s highest peak against potential destruction it might again experience from irresponsible hikers must be prioritized.
“The tourism income should wait and allow it to be rehabilitated,” she said.
She said now is not the time to reopen Mt. Apo to the public because the policies and mechanisms for the protection of the natural park and for those visiting, it has yet to be ironed out.
“Well, if we will really make sure that the rehab plan will be implemented and trees will grow, we will allot three to five years. By that time, we will see that the mountain is covered by plants and trees,” she said.
Although they understand the predicament and where the Pamb is coming from, Golle recommended the government must provide alternative means of income for the people who are relying on Mt. Apo.
“We understand there are economic opportunities but given the current situation of Mt. Apo, they should think on how to develop other livelihood for the locals. We cannot sacrifice and destroy Mt. Apo more for the sake of tourism,” she stressed.
The Department of Tourism (DOT)-Davao had already earlier said it is best to let the mountain rest for two to five years to ensure that the mountain recovers from the wildfire in 2016.
“If that is the decision of Pamb, the highest policy-making body for Mt. Apo that is composed of community, government agencies, we respect but we also have to reflect on it. For us, climbing as part of ecotourism, environment should always be the priority,” DOT-Davao Regional Director Roberto Alabado III earlier said.