Uniting For Education on Sustainable  Development in Camp 7, Minglanilla

“There are pine trees in our official seal,” councilor Jojo Selma of Minglanilla proudly informed us.

Many may not know that there are indeed pine and other trees in the 123-hectare Experimental Forest Station in Camp 7 of Minglanilla. However, unless collaborative efforts are exerted, the forest may continue to lose its trees and other resources. Not only will the forest suffer, the residents in the nearby communities that can be benefited by effective forest and resource management will lose so much opportunities for enhancing their situation. The whole province of Cebu will also stand to lose a very precious forest and source of water and other valuable resources.

Realizing this, the DENR-7 that is tasked to sustainably manage the forest together with their partners at the Regional Center of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development-Cebu (RCE-CEBU) visited the Experimental Forest, drafted a project proposal, and agreed on a showcase project with the active support of Mr. Katsunori Suzuki of the United Nations University Institute for Advanced Studies (UNU/IAS) and Mr. Masanori Kobayashi of the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) to start this month.

Dubbed REPORMA-CEBU (Resources and Poverty Response, Mapping and Management for Cebu), the project intends “to promote education for sustainable development through conservation and sustainable use of forest resources, to demonstrate creative power for the alternative methods on effective use of natural resources and poverty alleviation.”

The project will involve a broad multi-sectoral, interdisciplinary team of stakeholders on all levels: local, national and international. The project envisions the collaborative initiatives of the community residents with local government units, local government agencies, and partners from the civil society, business, media, among others.

Aside from this project’s “mobilization of a broad spectrum of stakeholders including government, business, communities and other partners through participatory research on poverty and resource mapping inventory, the project also envisions the creation of innovative and comprehensive knowledge sharing systems through RCE-CEBU and participatory planning and implementation of forest resource conservation and sustainable use and income-generating opportunity creation through a variety of activities such as apiculture, broom and furniture production, herb and medicinal plant cultivation, seedling production, handcraft making, organic fertilizer production, wildlife sanctuary management, and ecotourism development.”

REPORMA-CEBU will be officially launched this Monday, July 16, at Camp 7 Experimental Forest with the participation and involvement of the multi-level, multisectoral partners eager to promote education for sustainable development in this part of Cebu. A 2-day visioning workshop will follow, with the introductory portion and a forest tour scheduled at the Camp 7 Experimental Forest Station and the 2nd day activities at the Minglanilla Municipal Hall.

May a thousand and more pine and other trees sustainably bloom and grow within this forest and may the people of Minglanilla and the rest of Cebu be blessed by their well-conserved, effectively managed valuable forest!

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