ITOGON, Benguet – The municipal government urged residents in the town’s various barangays to help in containing the spread of forest fires within their jurisdiction to avoid compromising the gains of environmental preservation and protection initiatives undertaken by both the government and the private sectors to help in bringing back the greenery of the mountains.
Mayor Bernard S. Waclin said that it is unfortunate that the remaining forest cover and newly planted tree species have been affected by the series of forest fires that persisted in various parts of the municipality since the later part of 2022.
Further, the municipal chief executive also advised residents and visitors not to leave any open flame within their vegetable plantation sites or throw lighted cigarette butts in grassy areas to avoid forest fires which significantly damage the state of the environment.
Itogon hosts portions of both the Upper and Lower Agno river basins that sustain the water supply for the 105-megawatt Ambuclao hydroelectric power plant in Bokod town, the 126-megawatt Binga hydroelectric power plant in barangay Tinongdan and the 345-megawatt San Roque hydroelectric power plant in San Manuel, Pangasinan.
Mayor Waclin pointed out that people are now feeling the negative effects of climate change caused by the rapid deterioration of forest cover in watersheds because of human activities such as the conversion of forest areas into vegetable gardens, slash and burn farming, illegal logging, among others, and that they should not wait for such situation to worsen before realizing that damaging the environment will have an effect to environmental well-being in the future.
According to him, the unpredictable weather patterns, much stronger typhoons, unpredictable movement of mountain slopes leading to landslides, among others, are evident signs of climate change and these had already been experienced through the years, thus, these must serve as reminders to people to start reforming their ways of life and help in restoring the health of the barren mountain slopes.
The mayor claimed that residents should value the importance of the trees within the forests around their communities and should be the first responders to the occurrence of forest fires in order to prevent these from spreading that may affect other forested areas in the municipality.
He claimed that people should not allow the efforts exerted by the government and private sectors in reforesting portions of watersheds go to waste by allowing the occurrence of forest fires because the impact of the damages to the environment will be far more dangerous compared to the effects of climate change currently being experienced in various parts of the world.
Waclin asserted that by preventing forest fires within their communities, people are helping in the establishment of resilient communities where the effects of climate change will be lesser felt apart from ensuring that they have contributed in the carbon sequestration efforts to allow Mother Earth to have the necessary breathing space for the benefit of not only the present but also the future generations.