sitemap DAILY STAR: Star Life
Daily starStarlife
Front Page
Negros Oriental
Star Business
Opinion
Sports
Police Beat
Star Life
People & Events
Bacolod City, PhilippinesMonday, January 25, 2010
Google
 
Web www.visayandailystar.com

Private reserves
BY A.C. ALCALA

In terms of the natural environment, the Philippines may be considered a badly damaged country. Wherever one goes in the country, whether on land or at sea, environmental damage in varying extent can be observed. Because probably more than 50 percent of our 92 million people depend directly or indirectly on natural resources for their livelihoods, environmental protection and management must be part of our development agenda.  

What thus far has occurred is the establishment of protected areas in government-owned lands and coastal zone (from shoreline to 15 kilometers offshore). The coastal zone and lands originally inhabited by indigenous peoples are by law reserved for small-scale fishers and indigenous peoples, respectively, to exploit, manage and protect. Practically all existing protected areas (functional or “paper parks”) are governed by national and local laws and regulations.

It does not really matter how many terrestrial and marine reserves there are nor who own them. What matters is how well they are managed for ecological and public benefits writes Brent Mitchell in the journal Parks.

It is not known to what extent most of our existing protected areas (terrestrial and marine) are successfully managed and protected because there has been no serious attempts to evaluate them, according to the objectives for which they were set up.

The exceptions are the marine reserves in the whole Visayas region, which have been evaluated based on the management and the results of management on biodiversity and fisheries. The results of this evaluation have been published in a book, “Directory of Marine Reserves in the Visayas, Philippines,” in 2008. The results are disappointing, only a third of 564 marine reserves has been considered successful. We have every reason to expect that this picture could be true for the whole country if an evaluation of marine reserves in other parts of the country is made.

What I suggest, aside from seeing to it that reserves are functioning well, is for government to promote and encourage the establishment of private reserves on private lands. This type of reserve has been existing for a long time in many countries of the world, and there is no reason why it cannot exist in the Philippines. There may be, in fact, functional private reserves existing in the country managed quietly without publicity by their owners. It is time to broaden the government program of environmental protection and management to include the landowners who desire to participate in the program.

I will continue the discussion on private reserves in the next column.*

back to top

El Niño likely to affect
supply of freshwater
BY ERROL A. GATUMBATO

Weather authorities have already issued a warning on the possible occurrence of the El Niño phenomenon in the Philippines this year. After a series of typhoons that lashed  the country last year, occasional rain came but generally the weather was dry in almost all parts of the Philippines.  It is expected that the dry season will extend to a much longer period, and authorities refer this condition as the El Niño phenomenon.

Aside from a warm temperature that we shall expect, especially during the mid-summer, this El Niño phenomenon will tremendously affect the water supply for domestic, agricultural and industrial requirements in many areas of  the country, particularly in major urban centers. In fact, there were reports that the water supply in major water reservoirs in the Philippines is already declining, and a shortage of freshwater supply may likely happen in Metro Manila. Early this year, sugarcane planters in Negros Occidental also expressed the need for a cloud seeding in the event that the dry season will continue in the next few months.

The shortage of freshwater is quite ridiculous for a tropical country like the Philippines, and seems unbelievable given the presence of numerous water bodies, such as lakes and river systems. Unfortunately, many rivers in the country started to dry up and the volume of flowing water keeps declining through the years. Even in upland areas, some residents have to walk kilometers because the sources of freshwater are getting scarce. In coastal communities, some freshwater sources are already contaminated with saltwater.

Primarily, the shortage of freshwater supply is attributed to the diminishing forest cover, which serves as a watershed. Major watersheds in the Philippines are already critically denuded, and their capacity to stock water is seriously threatened.  Rough estimates show that the forest cover of the Philippines is only about five million hectares out of the 30 million hectares total land area of the country. However, the remaining old growth forest is less than a million hectares and much of the formerly forested areas are already converted to other land uses. The Philippines’ annual deforestation rate is estimated at about 90,000 hectares.

Visayas is badly affected with deforestation. Except for the Samar Island that has still a sizeable forest cover left, almost all other islands in the Visayas region have been deforested. Cebu is almost completely deforested while Negros Island has barely four percent forest cover left. However, the remaining forest of Negros is already confined in a much higher elevation, because its lowland forest has been subjective to extensive logging and later on converted into agricultural and residential sites. In fact, numerous settlers are already permanently occupying the vast timberland of Negros Island.

As a consequence of the unabated deforestation, our water supply is now declining and this is a real threat, especially to our agriculture. Millions of hectares of our agricultural land are dependent on watersheds in terms of irrigation. Once the water supply would not be enough for irrigation, our agricultural productivity and even food security shall be affected, and the Philippines’ economy will likely suffer. It is even more alarming when a day comes that we shall be running out of our domestic water requirements.

We are now facing two extreme conditions that are both critical to our survival. One is the imminent threat of declining freshwater supply when dry period occurs in a much longer time and on the contrary, we have overflowing water during rainy season and when typhoons come. In both situations, the forest plays a critical role to help minimize the impacts they may bring to the people and the environment, in general. Unfortunately, our remaining forests are not yet fully secured because rampant logging, slash and burn farming and forest conversion into other uses are still prevalent in many areas of the Philippines. Some forested areas are further threatened by large scale mining operations.    

It is therefore very important that an integrated watershed management system be in place in the different regions of the country. Serious watershed rehabilitation shall be implemented and this should involve various water users. Heavy water users, especially those large agricultural estates and industries, shall be made to participate in the watershed rehabilitation.

Moreover, water servicing facilities shall also be required to develop and implement watershed management measures. We should explore more mechanisms in enhancing the user’s fee system for water to generate revenue, which can be used in watershed protection and rehabilitation. (Author’s note: This article is also available on line at http://errolgatumbato.wordpress.com/)*

Starlife
El Niño likely to affect supply of freshwater
 Front Page | Opinion | Negros Oriental | Business | Sports
Star Life | People & Events| Archives | Advertise		 
 Email: dailystar@lasaltech.com