BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-CAR) said that the region’s overall forest cover increased to more than 857,038 hectares from some 782,276 hectares or an increase of approximately 10 percent over a 10-year period.
DENR-CAR regional executive director Engr. Paquito Moreno claimed that the data was based on the land satellite images of the region’s land cover from the National Mapping Resources Information Authority (NAMRIA) in 2010 and 2020.
Based on their data in 2020, Apayao which is considered the last frontier of nature in the region had the most hectarage of forest cover with some 259,518 hectares followed by Abra with some 156,662 hectares, Benguet – 139,988 hectares, Mountain province – 121,886 hectares, Kalinga – 92,818 hectares and Ifugao – 86,343 hectares.
In 2010, Apayao still had the largest forest cover with 227,763 hectares followed by Abra with 137,531 hectares, Benguet – 134,531, Mountain Province – 109,696 hectares, Ifugao – 91,678 hectares and Kalinga – 79,965 hectares.
The DENR-CAR official attributed the increase in the region’s forest cover to the active participation of concerned stakeholders like local governments, non-government organizations, environmentalist, civil society groups, among others, in the efforts to bring back the greenery of the mountain slopes to improve carbon sequestration, and disaster mitigation measures.
He pointed out that there is still a need for concerned stakeholders to elevate their regreening activities to a higher level to achieve a better state of the environment and sustain the Cordillera’s identity as the watershed cradle of Northern Luzon.
“While there is an increase in forest cover at the regional level, it can be gleaned from the provided data that not all provinces had an affirmative change in forest cover. Ifugao decreased by some 5,335 hectares or 6 percent from 2010 to 2020,” he stressed.
He stipulated that among the areas of focus of the regreening efforts were the rehabilitation of open and degraded areas, natural regeneration and enforcement of environment and natural resources rules and regulations.
“While it is inconclusive, we believe that the reforestation programs and forest protection activities have contributed to the positive increase of the region’s forest cover,” he added.
From 2010-2022, more than 166,135 hectares were reforested through the National Greening Program (NGP) and the implementation of special projects in the different parts of the region, the Integrated Natural Resources and Environmental Management Project (INREMP), and the Forest Land Management project (FMP).
According to him, the hiring of Bantay Gubat and forest protection officers not only by the DENR, including the local governments, also positively impacted maintaining the region’s forest cover.
Moreno claimed that the decrease in Ifugao’s forest cover is an alarming concern because while the government agencies and other stakeholders are pouring their efforts to minimize forest degradation, there is still an interplay of factors leading to decreased forest cover that needs to be immediately addressed the soonest. By Dexter A. See
