BSP okays $50-M soft loan from WB

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has approved the $50-million soft loan from the World Bank (WB) that would help finance the reorganization of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The loan is payable over 20 years with an eight-year grace period.

The loan would finance the National Program Support for Environment and Natural Resources Management (NPSENRMP) intended to help the DENR finance and carry out its priority activities.

Data from the WB indicated that the nationwide project would facilitate the implementation of the DENR’s Rationalization Plan by improving the efficiency of the department’s organization and operations.

The loan would also fund the development of various maps for watershed management and land use plans, and for interim risk remedial measures related to abandoned mines, geology, and ground water protection.

Moreover, the loan would finance the preparation of comprehensive mine rehabilitation and remediation plans for priority abandoned mine sites that would go side by side with the Arroyo administration’s push for mining development.

Initially, the project has identified the Bagacay mine in the island of Samar in the eastern Visayas for rehabilitation and remediation.

The second component of the project would cover the Integrated Ecosystem Management which would carry out a collaborative program involving the DENR, local government units (LGUs) and People’s Organizations (POs) for integrated watershed and wetlands management strategies.

“This will help priority watersheds areas facing severe risk of further degradation and those located in sensitive ecological areas,” the WB said. The idea was to promote participatory and integrated watershed ecosystem planning and management while raising the integrated ecosystem awareness among the stakeholders.

According to the project brief, the $50-million project would also support sustainable livelihood improvement sub-projects that enhance the ecosystems, conserve biodiversity and increase farmers’ income.

Initially, the project intended to implement this component in the priority watersheds located within the Southern Sierra Madre Watershed Cluster that includes the Angat watershed reservation, Ipo watershed, Doña Remedios Trinidad-General Tinio watershed forest reserve, Umiray watershed forest reserve and Kanan watershed — all in the island of Luzon.