Forests in General Nakar
remains under threat of excessive timber poaching, uncontrolled mining,
unsustainable extraction of non-timber forest products, the expansion of
agriculture, and conversion to other uses. After the November 2004 flood,
timber poaching continued. The communities consider poverty as the root issue,
which forces settlers and migrants to exploit open-access resources, support
the resource extraction activities such as logging and mining or engage in
illegal and unsustainable extraction of forest resources themselves.
Traditional regulatory schemes such as enforcement fail because of lack of
adequate budgets and qualified personnel. The synthesis and list below
summarizes problems, issues, needs and opportunities expressed during barangay
consultations conducted for the formulation of this FLUP.
The
FLUP-TWG conducted a series of workshops to analyze existing data and
synthesize results of community discussions.
Part of the analsysis and synthesis were to determine, problems, issues,
needs and opportunities related to forest lands.
Problems
1. Excessive
Flooding During Rainy Season. Rains have become intense and prolonged and river
networks are unable to hold excess water causing flooding in adjacent
communities. This is indicative that climate change is upon us- as caused by
our neglect of our natural resources, among others;
2. Drying
up of Rivers and Irrigation Systems. Not only have the rivers become shallower
because of deposited sediments, but they have also become dryer during summer
months. Thus, there is now perennial shortage of irrigation water for local
rice farms. Related to this, spring boxes built are unable to reach increasing
number of households during summer as these have also began to dwindle in water
supply;
3. River
Pollution. With increasing population, the rivers also began to get polluted
from nearby cluster of houses in the form of sewerage and improperly disposed
solid wastes and plastics, especially in urban areas. Pollutants also come from
commercial farms like piggeries in Tanay, Rizal;
4. Soil
Erosion and River Siltation. Community accounts have indicated that the once
deep rivers used for navigation and transport of logs and have become shallower,
wider and silted;
5. Declines
of Biodiversity and Wildlife Populations. Accounts by various communities
during consultations revealed the decline of populations of Rufus horned bill,
monkeys, carp, wild boar, and many other wild flora;
6. Aquatic
Life Adversely Affected. With the shallowing of the rivers accompanied by
sedimentation, the local water bodies have become less suitable as habitat for
aquatic life, thus reducing the availability and supply of fishes, crustaceans
and edible shells. Added to this is the pressure of illegal fishing practices
like the use of poison and electric gadgets in fresh water bodies and even
dynamites; and
7. Fragmentation
of Forests. After decades of logging, expansion of kaingin, landslides and
erosions, the once vast and contiguous forests have disappeared in many areas
so that what is left are patches of second growth and few primary forests.
Issues
1. Persistent
Timber Poaching, Charcoal Making and Small-Scale Mining. These non-stop
activities are alarming and are a cause for worry not only to LGU officials and
environmentalists, but to the local folks as well, especially as they still
remember the 2004 calamity that struck many lives and properties. Despite this
worries, however, the destructive practice has prevailed, and may stop only
when all the forest resources are depleted;
2. Increasing
Migration and Expansion of Kaingins. The continued migration of people into the
forestlands of General Nakar is slowly but surely eating up into the standing
forests of the municipality. More so as they clear forests and cultivate it the
way they do it in the lowland. It is noted that many claimants occupy and stake
ownership over bigger areas of forestland beyond their capacity to cultivate,
protect and maintain. Thus, the areas are neglected and become marginalized;
3. Submergence
of Lower Lumutan if Laiban Dam is built. The local folks of Lumutan and
adjacent communities have particularly expressed this fear especially with news
now and then that there are investors committed to finance this project, and
thus, pursue it;
4. Titling
and claims in forest lands. Several block of lands inside Kanan Watershed have
titles;
5. Infrastructure
development including dams and roads, large renewable energy structures;
6. Large
allocation such as the Umiray Watershed Forest Reserve, PP 1636, Kaliwa
Watershed Forest Reserve have no updated management plan; and
7. It is worth mentioning that
the Dumagats and Remontados are claiming the forest lands of the municipality
as part of their ancestral domain. It is reported that the CADT have been
approved but the LGU official argue that the process of consultation was not
participatory and insufficient.
Needs
1. Livelihood.
Training on processing non-timber forest products for value addition;
2. Fiscal
and manpower resources to undertake forest law enforcement;
3. Sustained
water supply during summer months. Establish water production systems;
4. Sustained
production of non-timber forest products;
5. Resolution
on land rights of IPs and Non-IPs;
6. Restoration
of forest cover and;
7. Control
of migration into forest lands;
8. Involvement
of local communities in law enforcement;
9. Establishing
of buffer or protection for remaining natural forests;
10. IEC on forest and forest
lands particularly the multiple and competing uses of forests;
11. Limits
on areas for cultivation and improve uplan farming practices;
12. Boundaries
of forest lands; and
13. Financing
of forest management and protection.
Opportunities
1. Small watersheds as
potential sources of renewable energy for communities. A significant result of
community mapping was the identification of springs, spring boxes, and
waterways that local communities believed could be tapped for micro-hydro for
power needs in barangays;
2. Emerging markets for
environmental services. The municipality has vast potentials for eco-tourism,
carbon trading, and payment for environmental services in view of interests by
national and international groups to conserve natural resources and
biodiversity;
3. Availability of service
providers for capacity building needs and access to donor funds; and
4. Willingness of outside
stakeholders to participate in forest cove restoration.
