DENR-CAR says watershed protection is everybody’s concern

by SC Aro

La Trinidad, Benguet (12 September) — Environment and Natural Resources Regional Cordillera Administrative Region Director Primitivo Galinato Jr. calls on officials, farmers and other stakeholders to help work out for the protection and conservation of the deteriorating state of the region’s watershed system.

Saying that DENR cannot do it alone, Galinato stressed that something must be done with the sorry state of the watershed system otherwise it will become a survival of the fittest.

According to Galinato, there are only 729,539 hectares of forest cover area remaining in the region, of which more than 481,491 hectares need to be rehabilitated.

He lamented the massive conversion of mossy forests into vegetable gardens. If this goes on, it will lead to massive soil erosion then eventually sedimentation and siltation, he said. The worsening state of the watershed system is aggravated by illegal logging and timber poaching.

We must think of what is to be left for the next generation, he further said.

While it is true that farming is a source of livelihood, the use of the land should not be abused as this would further deteriorate the environment, Galinato said.

He stressed the importance of watershed system. Its water runs the turbines of the dams of the Luzon grid namely the Binga, Ambuklao and San Roque dams. If riverbeds become shallow due to denudation or polluted due to sedimentation or siltation, it affects quality of water.

Dubbed as the watershed cradle of northern Luzon, Galinato said the Cordillera region has 13 major watershed system that feeds irrigation systems of Regions I, II and III.

In efforts to rescue the deteriorating state of the region’s watersheds, a watershed summit was held October last year aimed to identify courses of action to arrest the alarming deterioration of the region’s watershed and to make these sustainable. It also aimed to forge a Covenant for Action among all stakeholders, and to consolidate the position of CAR in co-opting the support of regions 1 and 2 for external assistance to undertake a comprehensive watershed program.

As an offshoot of this was an inter-regional summit held last May among stakeholders in CAR, Regions I, and II to generate their support for CAR watersheds. (PIA-Benguet)