AGAP-BULUSAN, Inc. LAUNCHES PROJECT “PRESERVE BVNP”, FUNDED BY GEF SGP UNDP

SORSOGON CITY, November 11 (PIA) — The Aggrupation of Advocates for Environmental Protection (AGAP) Bulusan, Inc. through its president , Philip Bartilet presented recently here at the Bulusan Lake, Bulusan Volcano Natural Park (BVNP) – Bulusan Area the logical framework of project “PRESERVE BVNP Bulusan Area Biodiversity Conservation & Ecotourism Support Project”, a mechanism to involve residents within the 6 barangays of the BVNP – Bulusan Area to take care of its rich biodiversity and eradicate illegal activities within the area.

This project, according to Bartilet will provide an alternative source of livelihood to those persons who have been continuously conducting illegal activities within the area to totally refrain from such activities and eventually become the first persons to take care of the rich biodiversity of the BVNP as they will be trained to become eco-tourism guides and forest rangers with monthly compensation benefits.

They will be called Wildlife Environmental Officers (WEOs) and will be accredited by the Department of Tourism as tourism guides and deputized by the Department of Environment & Natural Resource (DENR) as WEOs/forest rangers of the BVNP .

Bartilet explained that the project has now been approved and will be funded by the Global Environmental Facility, Small Grants Programme Philippines, United Nations Development Program (GEF SGP UNDP).

He said that the general aim of the project is to organize and mobilize communities in the BVNP area as a participatory people’s mechanism to mainstream biodiversity conservation, institute local policies and come up with a resource-based management plans for the BVNP.

The project will harness the efforts of multi-sector representation from the 6 barangays within the BVNP to organize themselves into an environmental biodiversity para-legal protection units.

It will focus on field research, organize monitoring teams that will continue to provide information education campaign dissemination through a regular “Dalaw Turo” within the 6 barangays of the BVNP Bulusan Area.

Eight courses will be provided that will focus on the environmental biodiversity richness of the BVNP, how it should be conserved and the bright prospects of the BVNP as a prime tourism destination.

The project has also identified the rehabilitation of a 50 – hectare denuded biodiversity habitat and projected to be reforested within 2 years.

The propagation of 20,450 agro-forestry seedlings will be placed in the 6 proposed barangay nurseries within the BVNP. Seedlings to be planted will comprise of pili, cacao, coffee and with 6,000 seedlings more of endemic hardwood and watershed forest trees.

The project will highlight the monthly monitoring of the activities, and a publication of the inventory of the existing flora and fauna as an ecological profile of the BVNP. (MAL/IAG, PIA Sorsogon)

Note: This is a RE-POST of the news-article written by Ms. Irma Guhit of PIA-Sorsogon Information Center. Please click the link below for the original source of this article.

http://pia.gov.ph/?m=7&r=&id=63580