Japan grants P2.6 M for Vizcaya watershed

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya – This landlocked province, considered as Cagayan Valley’s watershed, has been the recipient of a financial aid being provided by the Japan government for watershed protection efforts here.

The P2.6-million grant, issued recently by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs through a tie-up between a Japanese non-government organization and its Philippine counterpart, would be utilized in support of the province’s forest protection and conservation project dubbed “Promotion of Participatory Forest Management in the Critical Areas of Nueva Vizcaya.”

The Japanese-based NGO, Global Link Management Institute (GLMI) and its local counterpart, the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM) have been spearheading the implementation of the project in partnership with the participating local government units and other stakeholders here.

GLMI’s Makiko Watanabe said that the project, covering 32 hectares of watershed and forest areas here, is also being implemented in coordination with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Education.

The areas covered by the project, formed part of the province’s remaining forests, are in the upland towns of Kasibu, Kayapa, Santa Fe and Dupax Del Sur, where soil erosion is reported to be alarming. This, Watanabe said, may be replicated in other parts of the province’s watershed areas, depending on their success.

What is important during the initial stages, she said, would be to further enhance the capacity of the stakeholders, especially the communities, in fostering a comprehensive and responsible approach to forest land use.

For the project to succeed, Merlinda Calubaquib, PRRM area manager and joint project leader, said that there is a need to achieve sustainable forest management through secure land tenure, fair application of environmental laws and devolution and training of the functions of protecting the environment to the barangay level.