10/24/2008

Efforts to conserve bio-diversity-rich Mt. Apo Natural Park (MANP) in South-Central Mindanao is getting a needed shot in the arm with a workshop for MANP stakeholders under the aegis of the USAID-funded Philippine Environ-mental Governance Project (EcoGov), which is implemented with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The MANP workshop in Davao City last week sought to harmonize management plans for Mt. Apo by different stakeholders, who may have different and diverse interests and agenda for MANP but who are nonetheless committed to conserving this terrestrial key biodiversity area (KBA). A Statement of Agreements was signed by the participants at the workshop attesting to their interest in institutionalizing a partnership in jointly managing the MANP.

Among those who attended the workshop were DENR Undersecretary for Staff Bureaus Manuel Gerochi, Region 11 Executive Director Ricardo Calderon, Region 12 Executive Director Jim O. Sampulna, Kidapawan City, North Cotabato Mayor Rodolfo Y. Gantuangco, and Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur Mayor Joel Ray Lopez.

Others who attended were Eric Raz, Provincial Officer, NCIP-North Cotabato; Eduardo Masiwel, Provincial Officer, NCIP-Davao del Sur; Datu Bienvenido Macalos, Head claimant, Association of 4Bs, Makilala; Datu Lucio Serrano, Head Claimant, MADADMA, Kidapawan City; and Datu Rogelio Manapol, Head claimant, Unified CADT, Davao del Sur.

The workshop is the first step towards the creation of a harmonized zoning and management plan that will integrate the aspirations, visions, and objectives of relevant stakeholders of Mt. Apo. Through a process of negotiation among the different stakeholders, a collaborative institutional arrangement is expected to be developed.

More than a million Filipinos from the three LGUs depend on Mt. Apo for livelihood, mostly from abaca, rubber, and banana plantations on its fertile slopes.

It is also home to the highly endangered Philippine Eagle, as well as to the Red-eared parrotfinch, the Mindanao white-eye, and the Mt. Apo sunbird. Threatened and vulnerable mammals found in the Mt. Apo range include the rare Mindanao moonrat, the Greater Mindanao shrew, and the Mindanao pygmy fruit bat

Mt. Apo is considered critical to the sustainable development of Mindanao because it is a vital watershed of major river systems that are sources of freshwater requirements for agricultural, domestic, and industrial users in Central and Southern Mindanao, specifically the provinces of North Cotabato and Davao Sur, and Davao City.

As such, the protection and conservation of the KBA – particularly the remaining forest cover – is essential to the survival of both the wildlife and the people in surrounding areas.

...top