AGAP-Bulusan launches project “PRESERVE, funded by UNDP

By Irma A. Guhit

SORSOGON CITY, NOVEMBER 3 (PIA)…… The Aggrupation of Advocates for Environmental Protection (AGAP)- Bulusan through its president , Philip Bartilet presented the logical framework of project “PRESERVE” Participative Reforestation with Ecological Support, Education and Research to Validate the Ecosystems of the Bulusan Volcano Natural Park (BVNP)  in a program launch held last Monday, October 31 at the Bulusan Lake.

Bartelit explained that the project has now been approved and funded by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

In his presentation, Bartilet explained that the first goal of the project is to organize and mobilize communities in the BVNP area as a participatory mechanism to mainstream biodiversity conservation in the local policies and resource-based management plans of People’s Organizations (POs) and government institutions.

It will harness the efforts of multi-sectoral representation from the 6 barangays within the BVNP to organize themselves into an environmental  biodiversity para-legal protection units focusing on field research, monitoring teams and to organize also identified illegal fishers as eco-guides and rangers promoting alternative sustainable livelihood.

The program’s second goal is to rehabilitate the 50- hectare of denuded biodiversity habitat and maintain including its surrounding ecosystems and ecotourism attractions within the BVNP Bulusan area.

This will start off with seedling propagation, with at least 20,450 agro-forestry seedlings to be propagated in the nursery comprising of pili, cacao, coffee and 6,000 seedling of endemic hardwood and watershed seedlings to be planted in identified 6 barangay nurseries within the park area.

Its third goal is to establish poverty allevation mechanisms through the provision of eco-livelihood support such as generation of employment opportunities and capacity building to the primary stakeholders of the BVNP-Bulusan area.

This will involve trainings of eco-guides and Wildlife Environmental Officers (WEOs) and will become accredited tourism guides by the Department of Tourism.

In the plan presented Bartilet, explained that a sustainable para-technical training will be provided both on agriculture and aqua- culture development with 42 participants coming from the 6 barangay within the area.

The fourth goal of the project is to heighten the level of environmental awareness of the primary stakeholders particularly biodiversity conservation and the sustainable management of resources of the BVNP-Bulusan  area.

The PRESERVE group will conduct a Dalaw Turo with 8 courses focusing on environmental biodiversity conservation, an impact study to heighten environmental initiatives to become more value-driven rather than economic driven and publish biodiversity conservation materials, manuals and learning guides as information education materials.

The end goal of the project is to conduct a comprehensive research on biodiversity and other environmental management related study and establish a data-repository of the BVNP-Bulusan area.

This will include a monthly monitoring, inventory of the flora and fauna of the BVNP with the help of the academe that will provide an ecological profile of the resource of the six barangays/ communities within the BVNP..(PIA-SORSOGON)