By Jonathan L. Mayuga
Various stakeholders in the province of Isabela are eyeing to promote ecotourism to boost conservation effort in the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park (NSMNP), the country’s largest protected area.
“We have started to train people in surrounding communities; training them to become tourist guides,” Mina Labuguen, protected area superintendent of the NSMNP, told the BusinessMirror in an interview.
Labuguen said the NSMNP, which covers a total area of close to 360,000 hectares, including buffer zones, has a very big potential as an ecotourism destination.
Aside from its vast forest, ideal for trekking and nature tripping, NSMNP also boasts of having long white-sand beaches fronting the Eastern Seaboard.
“We have very long white-sand beaches ideal for swimming,” she added. The beaches, she said, are mostly part of, or covered by, the NSMNP.
Labuguen said local government units (LGUs), led by the provincial government of Isabela, are working together to protect the NSMNP and conserve the wildlife that thrive within, including some of the most unique but critically endangered species, such as the Philippine eagle and the Philippine crocodile.
“Ecotourism, of course, will be extra income for our communities,” she said.
Labuguen added that many of the people in surrounding communities are now benefiting from various government programs, such as the National Greening Program (NGP).
Aside from their income in planting trees and protecting NGP sites as partner of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), she said the people have started to harvest fruits from the trees they planted.
“We are now looking at ecotourism because it will mean extra income for our communities. If they have extra income, they will no longer see the trees as easy source of cash,” Labuguen said.
The DENR official said communities in the NSMNP are now protective of the forest resources, realizing the value of having a healthy forest ecosystem, especially because of extreme weather.
DENR Forest Management Bureau Director Ricardo Calderon said last year that P20 million has been allocated for forest protection in the province of Isabela. This year another P20 million will be released, he said.
Once an illegal-logging hot spot, the NSMNP and the province of Isabela, along with the entire Cagayan Valley region, have been declared last year by the Regional Development Council as free of illegal-logging activities, Labuguen said.
There’s no let up in the drive against illegal logging, she said, adding that the Isabela local government has even partnered with the DENR to make sure that no illegal logging takes place in the thick forest.
“They (Provincial government) allowed us to use their helicopter to conduct aerial surveillance over the NSMNP from time to time. The DENR takes care of the fuel,” Labuguen said.
Director Theresa Mundita Lim of the DENR’s Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) supports the effort of the DENR, Protected Area Management Board and the local governments that share jurisdiction over the NSMNP in its effort to provide sustainable livelihood to the people.
The DENR-BMB promotes partnership between DENR, LGUs and communities for the sustainable development of protected areas in the country to ease the pressure on the environment and natural resources.