Groups tasked to manage areas under reforestation

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO --- Some 35 people’s organizations in Nueva Ecija province have been tasked by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Japan International Cooperation Agency to manage over 14,000 hectares of site development areas established under the Forestland Management Project (FMP).

The FMP is a reforestation project launched in 2012, aiming to rehabilitate the Pantabangan-Carranglan Watershed, one of the biggest protected areas in Central Luzon, through collaborative and comprehensive community-based forest management strategies.

The project integrates conservation and development-oriented activities with the participation and capacity-building of communities to rehabilitate degraded forestlands in three critical river basins, including Upper Magat and Cagayan in Cagayan Valley, Upper Pampanga in Central Luzon, and Jalaur in Iloilo.

The DENR said that the organizations play a major role in the implementation of the FMP and the continued protection, conservation, and development of agroforestry and reforestation areas, especially with the conclusion of the 10-year project.

“Our partner people’s organizations have been crucial in the greening of the more than 44,000-hectare Pantabangan-Carranglan Watershed Forest Reserve. This turnover is a way of showing our appreciation for their reforestation efforts,” the agency said.

The people's groups will benefit from the various agroforestry facilities established under the FMP including bridges, access roads, water impounding systems, and irrigation pipelines.