Region's forest cover up by 15 percent

CEBU, Philippines - Local environmental officers yesterday announced a 15 percent increase or a total of 23,309 hectares added in the forest cover in Central Visayas.

From a baseline data of 155,373 hectares of forest in 2010, the region now boasts of 178,682 hectares for 2012, based on the records of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The province of Siquijor noted the highest increase with 53.50 percent from 1,273 to 1,954 hectares. This was followed by the Province of Cebu at 28.147 percent or 39,251 hectares in 2010 to 50,299 hectares in 2012.

Negros Oriental came in third with 11.868 percent or 61,372 hectares in 2010 to 68,656 hectares in 2012 while Bohol had an eight percent increase with 53,477 hectares in 2010 to 57,773 hectares in 2012.

"This shows that the National Greening Program (NGP) of DENR is serious. Starting 2011, there has already been validation of CENRO (Community Environment and Natural Resources Office) reports which are notarized. We also submit to geotagging which is real-time situationer photo report," said the Eddie Llamedo, region-7 spokesperson DENR.

The same office also noted a 25,000-hectare increase in the region for the year 2013 though data has yet to be validated by the national office making it unofficial as of the moment, shared Forest Resources and Conservation Division chief Clea Arceno.

DENR credited regular monitoring and strict enforcement of Executive Order 23 or the moratorium on cutting and harvesting of timber in the natural and residual forests as a factor contributing to the significant increase in the forest cover in the region, as well as the sustained reforestation efforts and the empowerment of people's organizations.

This positive development is a welcome note for the celebration of International Day of the Forests (IDF) this March 21.

The special activity was initiated by the United Nations General Assembly in 2011 and is annually celebrated to raise awareness on the importance of all types of forests.

With this, a mangrove planting and growing will be done in the coastal areas of Argao, Southern Cebu this Friday.

Arceno stressed that while Central Visayas, particularly Bohol and Northern Cebu, survived a powerful earthquake in October and super typhoon Yolanda the following month, the reported 800 hectares affected in Bohol have been replaced in a tree planting and growing activity earlier this year.

She explained that DENR follows a replacement rule for every cut tree.

"For every regular fruit-bearing tree cut, there should be 50 indigenous trees planted as a replacement. For every premium tree like Narra cut, 100 indigenous trees must be planted in replacement," Arceno explained. —  (FREEMAN)