Agreement establishing conservation area signed

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Environment and Natural Resources-7 signed a memorandum of agreement with the local chief executives of Alcoy, Argao and Dalaguete for the establishment of a conservation area.

 The 882-hectare Nug-as Forest-Palinpinon Range-Mount Lantoy will become the New Conservation Areas in the Philippines Project (NewCAPP).

Under the MOA, the areas of cooperation among the three towns, Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau and Cebu Biodiversity Conservation Foundation Inc., include the development, adoption and implementation of a biodiversity conservation management plan.

This plan consists of the existing forest and comprehensive land use plan, promotion and practice of good governance.

DENR regional executive director Maximo O. Dichoso, in a statement, said the agreement is a product of the joint effort of the DENR and its partner institutions in the establishment and effective management of biodiversity conservations areas in Cebu.

Dichoso, PAWB director Theresa Mundita Lim, Alcoy Mayor Nichomedes A. de los Santos, Argao Mayor Edsel A. Galeos, Dalaguete Mayor Ronald Allan G. Cesante and CBCFI Executive Director Renato de Rueda inked the agreement on May 15 at Argao Municipal Training Center in Argao.

The Nug-as Forest-Palinpinon Range and Mt. Lantoy which shelter Cebu endemic bird species, namely, Rufous-lored Kingfisher or Todiramphus winchelli, Black shama or Copsychus cebuensis, and Cebu Flowerpecker or Dicaeum quadricolor, straddle in the municipalities of Alcoy Dalaguete and Argao, Cebu.

 Dichoso said the Nug-as Forest-Palinpinon Range and Mt. Lantoy is one of the 117 terrestrial areas identified as key biodiversity areas (KBAs) based on criteria of vulnerability and irreplaceability.

 The Philippines is one of the 17 mega-diversity countries that collectively house two-thirds of the earth’s biological diversity and is one of the 34 global biodiversity hotspots due to unsustainable practices.

  “We want to pursue active and aggressive promotion and conservation efforts on these endangered and critically endangered species through a meaningful partnership with LGUs and other civil society groups to ensure their existence,” he said.

The agreement also stated that the LGUs will constitute a Biodiversity Conservation Team (BCT) for the conservation area’s establishment and management.  (FREEMAN)