Negros Oriental tops Forest Land Use Plans

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines – Of all provinces in the Philippines, Negros Oriental is now number one in the completion of the required Forest Land Use Plans for all cities and towns, according to the provincial head of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Charlie Fabre, Provincial Environment and Natural Resources officer, disclosed this week that Negros Oriental is almost 100 percent complete in the submission of the FLUPs, with only Basay, southernmost town of the province, still finalizing with its documents.

Negros Oriental has six cities and 19 towns, but two of these, Dumaguete City and San Jose town, do not have forest lands, Fabre said.

The DENR official said FLUP will serve as framework in assisting local government units in the wise use and utilization of forest land resources. An LGU’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan shall not be approved without the FLIP incorporated into it, he said.

Fabre said CLUP and FLUP are important tools for local governments to share in the responsibility with the national government in sustainable forest and forest lands management.

The completion of the FLUPs is just one of the many undertakings of the DENR in Negros Oriental to support efforts to properly manage existing watersheds in the province, he said.

Negros Oriental also has the biggest mechanized nursery in the country, and had exceeded its target of planting trees on a 65,000-hectare area, under the National Greening Program, Fabre added.