Forest cover growing but

could cover Chocolate Hills

says CENRO Tagb official

CORTES, Bohol, June 12 (PIA) – Among the few good things the pandemic has given is the natural regeneration of the environment, says Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) development and planning officer at Community Environment and Natural Resources Office Tagbilaran (CENRO Tagb), now based in Cortes.

When this could be a premium to a province that openly claims it is adopting development roadmaps that are pro-environment, the environment official also pointed out a potential issue.

“In the past, Chocolate Hills is covered with mostly grasses. Now, you can see trees creeping up the slopes,” fears Marcial Ugay, CENRO’s former Coastal Resource Management Project site coordinator elaborated.

In time, he feared that the trees would reach the peak of the hills, forever covering and hiding the cone-shaped hills under tree cover.

The DENR official however did not say if the environment bureau has any plans to keep the Chocolate Hills national park from getting overtaken by the trees.

The pandemic, for all the hardships, has also helped the environment, because it has diverted the attention of our farmers to other livelihood options, shared Ugay during the recent Kapihan sa PIA commemorating the environment month in June.

The results: The forest cover grew and thickened, the former CRM Site coordinator at CENRO Tagbilaran pointed out.

With the pandemic and government implemented stay at home policies for community to be insulated from the viral corona virus disease (COVID), several farmers opted to go for other options, shifting to planting in their backyards instead of going out to their rice fields.

Ugay said former rice field areas appeared to be turning into forests, possibly referring to satellite photos which environment planners consult once in a while to compare and measure forest-cover loss.

It could be nature’s way of recovering from the tension people have dealt on her, Ugay hinted.

While this could also impact on the food supply in Bohol, the environment official pointed out the need for Bohol to keep its environment as pristine as possible if not better that when it suspended its tourism activities.

Clean water, clean air and sustainable resource use, the environment official detailed these concerns at the radio forum.

On top of the one-hour discussion, Ugay highlighted the need for more participative solid waste and waste water disposal programs that work for the environment.

The mass tourism that capped Bohol’s approach to its need for a competitive economy has also brought in massive garbage problems that dented on the environment.

Recent coastal clean up activities here reveal that among the discards collected for waste characterization are plastic water bottles, plastic soft drinks bottles, plastic grocery bags and single use plastics improperly disposed.

And just as the government environment department threatened to go after local government units which refused to close their open garbage dumps, the DENR admits information and education about waste segregation at source still remains to be a challenge among LGUS.

Along this, the DENR embarks on harnessing technology to spread the word about these concerns, on social media and online advocacy campaigns for the environment.

The official also stressed that these activities in protecting and conserving the environment can not just be for the DENR but for everyone.

Everyone alive and living must be involved, the environment official emphasized. (rahchiu/PIA-7/Bohol)

ENVIRONMENT FOR EVERYONE. It is unfortunately not just for the DENR but for every one alive and living, to work for the protection and conservation of the environment, says CENRO official Marcial Ugay during the recent Environment Kapihan. June is the Environment Month. (PIABohol)