August 22, 2008 | 12:00am
KORONADAL CITY – Environment officials have given priority to the rehabilitation of the 102,350-hectare Allah Valley watershed forest reserve to prevent flooding and landslides in Central Mindanao and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Jim Sampulna, Central Mindanao executive director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), said the move to rehabilitate the Allah Valley watershed forest reserve is in line with the government’s long-term plan to minimize, if not to stop, flooding and landslides in the two regions.
There are at least 25 identified watershed forest reserves in Central Mindanao with a combined area of 753,700 hectares.
The Allah Valley watershed forest reserve covers a total of 102,350 hectares spanning the towns of Lake Sebu, Surallah and T’boli in South Cotabato and Bagumbayan in Sultan Kudarat.
The areas are protected under Presidential Proclamation No. 2455 that was promulgated on Sept. 24, 1985. It is being managed by the Allah Valley Landscape Development Alliance.
Assisting the DENR in carrying out the forest reserve’s rehabilitation are the provincial governments of South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat.
“We have prioritized Allah Valley because it is believed that 60 to 80 percent of the silt deposited in Rio Grande de Mindanao comes from Allah River. We know that the siltation of rivers and other water channels is one of the causes of widespread flooding and other water-related calamities in the area,” Sampulna told The STAR in a cell phone interview.
Last month, various parts of Central Mindanao were hit by flash floods due to heavy rainfall spawned by typhoon “Frank.”
The typhoon left more than P2 billion in damage to government infrastructure and agricultural losses, aside from displacing thousands of villagers.
Sampulna said they have requested DENR Secretary Jose Atienza for funds to do a feasibility study on the rehabilitation plan.
