DENR plants trees in 8000 hectares of Bicol River Basin area

News Release

LEGAZPI CITY (July 16) – A TOTAL OF 8,097 hectares within the Bicol River Basin and Watershed Management Project (BRBWMP) site have been planted with trees as of June this year.

As gathered from a progress report prepared by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources regional office here, of the 8.097hectares, 5430 hectares are under upland reforestation, 1906 hectares are under assisted natural regeneration (ANR), and 761 hectares are in agroforestry areas.

The DENR is one of four agencies involved in the implementation of the BRBWMP. It takes charge of the watershed management and development (WMP) component of the project.

Under the WMD component, there are two sub-components, namely, plantation and infrastructure.

The major project/activities under plantation are upland reforestation, assisted natural regeneration and agroforestry; and under infrastructure, the activities are construction of Gabion/checkdam, eco-block and small water impounding system (SWIS).

The DENR report also stated that of the 5,430 hectares planted under upland reforestation, 4,380 hectares are in Camarines Sur, 540 hectares are in Camarines Norte, and 510 hectares are in Albay. Under ANR, 1,034 hectares are in Camarines Sur, 631 hectares are in Camarines Norte, and 241 hectares are in Albay. Under agroforestry, 555 hectares are in Camarines Sur, and 206 hectares are in Camarines Norte.

All the projects funded by the budget released in CY 2007 and which started in CY 2008 were reported “completed and turned over”; while those projects funded by subsequent budget released in CY 2008 and CY 2009, were described as either “on-going protection and maintenance” or “completed or turn-over,” the DENR report further stated.

Other watershed management and development component accomplishments were as follows: stabilization of 111 kilometers of riverbanks, plantation maintenance of 650 hectares, rehabilitation of 48 hectares of mangrove, and construction of 2935 cubic meters of Gabion/checkdam, 2699 linear meter of ecoblocks, and eleven (11) units of small water impounding system (SWIS).

The BRBWMP-watershed management and development component progress report, signed by Regional Executive Director Joselin Marcus Fragada, showed hundreds of millions of pesos had been released for the project activities. (ASA, DENR V)