ARMM launches ‘Bantay Liguasan’

COTABATO CITY — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) launched the other day an extensive reforestation project in the surroundings of the vast Liguasan Marsh, a 220,000-hectare delta rich in natural gas.

Located at the tri-boundaries of North Cotabato, Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat, the Liguasan Marsh is also home to dozens of fish species.

The project, dubbed "Bantay Liguasan," is a joint venture of the Institute of Bangsamoro Studies, the Liguasan Marsh Research and Development Council and the DENR-ARMM.

The Liguasan delta is the country’s biggest. It has, in fact, long been regarded as the symbol of the Maguindanaon people, majority of whom rely on freshwater fishing as a source of livelihood for centuries now.

ARMM Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan has earlier declared a logging ban in the autonomous region as an initial step in protecting the region’s forests and sources of water such as rivers, lakes and natural springs.

Also involved in the Bantay Liguasan are forces of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) scattered in the Liguasan area.

The MILF has long been enforcing a ban on illegal and harmful means of catching fish in the Liguasan Marsh. — John Unson