DENR, LGUs join forces for DENR-Upland Dev't Program
Koronadal City (16 February) -- Local and national environment officials gathered together in Koronadal City for a two-day workshop from February 11-12, 2009 to pave the way for the implementation of the DENR flagship program for this year under the leadership of Secretary Lito Atienza.
Some 50 participants coming from the DENR field and regional offices, including representatives of the provincial and municipal governments in Region XII, joined in this preparatory activity for the implementation of the three-year DENR Upland Development Program.
Represented in the workshop are the provinces of South Cotabato through the Provincial Environment Management Office, Sarangani, and the Municipality of Magpet. Mr. Leo Tang of the Lake Sebu Ancestral Domain Claim Association also joined in the workshop.
In his opening remarks, Regional Executive Director Raquil-Ali M. Lucman cited the Program as a recognition of the forestry profession. "For the first time, ibinalik ang pagkilala sa forestry profession sa pamamagitan ng DENR-UDP," Lucman said.
Regional Technical Director for Forestry Muripaga T. Umpar called on the participants to share their time, talent and efforts in order for the program to succeed. "We will not wait for our children or our grandchildren to ask us what we have done for our environment," Umpar said. Director Umpar oriented the participants about the DENR-UDP and presented the rationale of the workshop.
Moreover, the participants were grouped by province to review the different thematic maps for every watershed such as vegetative map, land classification map, and 16 more kinds of map.
Dr. Bighani M. Manipula, Regional Technical Director for Research, briefed the participants on site-species matching technology developed by the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau of the DENR." This technology, with the aid of PCARRD soil test kit, will do away with the "hit and miss" style of selecting the species best suited to the area,"Manipula said.
The DENR-UDP is envisioned to pump-prime the local economy through job generation in the rural areas. The upland farmers, preferably those who are organized into people's organizations or cooperatives, will be paid for every seedling produced and for every tree planted under a contract with the DENR. They will also be paid for the maintenance of tree plantations established in their area. This in line with the Hunger Mitigation Program under the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. (DENR XII/PIA-SarGen) [top]
