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DENR to train Kalinga residents as forest protection officers


TABUK, Philippines – A government agency tasked to protect the environment have banded together with the concerned citizens of the country’s landlocked northern province of Kalinga in the fight against the denudation of its remaining forest cover. At least 60 male residents here are set to be deputized by the provincial environment office to serve as forest protection officers and to beef-up the handful of forest guards in protecting the 17 identified timber poaching hotspots in the area. The future forest protection officers who will be trained under the supervision of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), are also expected to control if not totally stop the rampant kaingin (slash and burn farming), commonly practiced by some natives or immigrants who are slowly moving upland due to lack of livelihood opportunities in the lowlands. According to Ricardo Dang-iw, acting provincial environment officer, the hiring of forest protection officers is also part of the agency’s emergency projects to augment the income of poor residents of the province from where most of the trainees come from. “We have allocated some P5 million for the salaries of these trainees and they will all be given the standard agriculture sector regulated minimum wage," he said. The project is part of the DENRs community involvement projects and the “Bantay Gubat" programs wherein the local residents themselves can earn extra income aside from having the opportunity to help in the protection of their own environment. In Isabela, Gov. Grace Padaca who has been in the forefront of the fight against rampant timber poaching in the province, told GMANews.TV that the forest protection project in Kalinga is worth emulating. “Right now we are working actively with Non-Government Organizations (NGO) and several other national and provincial-based environmental groups in the protection of our forests, but with the DENRs “Bantay Gubat" program, I believe we can harness more people to concern themselves in joining our efforts to rid the province of illegal logging," said Padaca. Rising to peaks ranging from 1,500 to 2,500 meters in height, Kalinga’s rich forests is in danger of being stripped of its centuries-old hardwood and pine forests if timber poaching goes unabated. - GMANews.TV
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