THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is set to unleash a multi-million peso environmental project in Zamboanga Peninsula and the other regions of Mindanao funded by the World Bank-Global Environment Facility.
This information was revealed by DA regional executive director Oscar Parawan, who also said that the $6.351 million funded project, which is equivalent to P300 million, will be used to finance various conservation and wildlife habitat projects in 11 locations around Zamboanga Peninsula.
The funding will be downloaded through DA-Mindanao Rural Development Program on Natural Management Resources (MRDP-NRM), Parawan added.
As to the biodiversity sites, Parawan narrated that these include Margosatubig and Vincenzo Sagun in Zamboanga del Sur, Mabuhay, Talusan and Olutanga in Zamboanga Sibugay including Rizal and Sibutad in Zamboanga del Norte.
The others are Marihatag and San Agustin in Surigao del Sur, Datu Blah Sinsuat in Maguindanao and Lamitan, Basilan.
These mentioned sites will be placed under DA’s research, conservation and recovery activities which aim to protect and revitalize Mindanao's most important wetlands and wildlife resources.
The DA even calls these biodiversity sites as “natural resources center of Mindanao within the coral triangle of the country.”
Parawan underscored that Zampen alone holds seven towns or 67 percent of the total identified sites in Mindanao, which is within the center of coral triangle biodiversity that spans the whole archipelago.
Last Nov. 9, the launching of the of the five-year green project was made with World Bank project team leader Carolina Figueroa-Geron and party visiting Pagadian City.
Welcoming Geron are Parawan and other DA officials, Provincial Administrator Pepito Degamo, who represented Gov. Aurora Cerilles and six municipal mayors from around the region, municipal agriculturists and administrative and planning officers.
Geron noted the need for hard investments on Mindanao focusing on protection and conservation activities for the environment since the island has been labeled already as one of the world's biologically richest and most threatened ecosystems, next to Brazil and Indonesia.
She explained that Mindanao for long has been the habitat of significant species such as the dugong, manta ray, giant clams, sea grasses and mangroves, which need biodiversity conservation and the adoption of an integrated, holistic approach.
Cerilles, in her message read by Degamo, said she was elated that a third of the whole project is found in Zambosur, adding she hopes the project will help spur conservation efforts also from the benefitted populace.
November 10 and 11, an orientation and commitment setting among the stakeholders followed, with site visitations at Triton Island in Vincenzo Sagun and Margosatubig.
It is hoped that with this bioversity project, the surrounding communities that will see the benefits will intensify awareness among themselves, maintain sustainable fishing practices and help guard or eliminate illegal activities like dynamite fishing and other destructive activities.
REMAI ALEJADO, DA-9
