CEBU, Philippines - Six priority programs of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will be heightened this year.
Isabelo R. Montejo, DENR-7 regional executive director, said that these flagship programs are the national greening program (NGP), balik probinsya program (BPP), anti-illegal logging campaign, cadastral survey, clean air and water, and geohazard mapping and assessment.
Montejo in a press statement said that the NGP which ranks at the top spot among the six is a massive forest rehabilitation program of the government established by virtue of Executive Order No. 26 which seeks to grow 1.5 billion trees in 1.5 million hectares nationwide within a period of six years, from 2011 to 2016.
Montejo also instructed all provincial and community and environment and natural resources officers and the legal division to initiate the filing of cases or complaints against certain individuals who violate the provisions of the Executive Order No. 23 or the moratorium on the cutting and harvesting of timber in the natural and residual forests.
“We should not allow them to destroy and cut down our remaining forest cover areas of the country as these are not only to prevent flash floods and hazardous flooding but also to preserve biodiversity, protect threatened habitats and sanctuaries of endangered and rare species, and allow natural regeneration of residual forests,†he added.
On the other hand, geohazard mapping carries the main objective of identifying areas in the country which are susceptible or vulnerable to various geologic hazards, or geohazards in a zoom-in scale of 1:10,000.
Also, cadastral survey involves the survey of the whole municipality for the purpose of identifying and delineating the individual claims of all land owners and claimants, and which will be the basis for the issuance of titles or patents.
As such, cadastral survey is instrumental in the efficient patent distribution and in accelerating countryside development. — (FREEMAN)