Two-day workshop on forest management
Posted on | October 27, 2010 |
A two-day conference and workshop on restoration, rehabilitation and management of forests along waterways and land areas affected by mining activities in the country was held at the House of Representatives.
The workshop, which was conducted on October 20 and 21, was an undertaking of the Australian government (AusAID), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the University of the Philippines-Los Baños and the HoR.
Those who attended the gathering were members of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), officials of mining corporations, local government units (LGUs) and board members of different provinces and cities.
Also present during the occasion were DENR Secretary Ramon Paje, Dr. Antonio Carandang of the Forestry Development Center; Dr. Luis Rey Veloso, University of the Philippines chancellor; Carolyn Atkinson, 1st secretary of the Australian Embassy; Engr. Rodolfo Velasco of Mines and Geosciences; Dr. Bibiano Ranes of Rio Tuba Nickel Corporation in Palawan; Edgardo Vendiola of Region IV-B DENR; Dr. Evangeline Castillo of Ecosystem Research and Development Bureau and Dr. Nelson Pampolina of CFNR, UPLB.
The objective of the workshop was to compile the issues and best practices of some mining companies and to come up with a resolution identifying the things to be done, policies to be addressed, and or laws to be amended.
In his keynote speech, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said the forest management workshop is a good venue to re-visit policies relative to restoration and management of forest and land areas affected by mining activities in the country.
“In Quezon City, problems in squatting, conflicting claims on land arises from the fact that a big part of land is technically forest land, and therefore, cannot be transacted upon by the private sector,” Belmonte said.
Belmonte said the government has already instituted regulatory measures such as Presidential Decree 705 or the Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines, Republic Act 7076 or the People’s Small Scale Mining and Republic Act 7942 or the Philippine Mining Act, which enlarge the mining industries contribution to the economy while at the same time reducing environmental and community threats from said activities.
According to Belmonte, about P43B in gross production value has been generated from mining activities but this also have inherent negative side effects to which the mining companies must be held responsible and accountable based on the country’s present mining laws.
Belmonte urged the workshop participants to continue what they have begun and see for themselves what can still be improved on with regards to forests and mining policies that will have impact on the ecology so that future generations will benefit from it.
Rep. Francisco Matugas (1st District, Surigao del Norte), chairman of the House committee on natural resources, told the workshop participants to be serious in analyzing the issues on mining relative to policies of the government and see what can be improved on.
“I hope you contribute in tackling all those issues and give your recommendations, and hopefully come up with a resolution, for us to consider in aid of legislation,” he said.
Palawan Gov. Abraham Kahlil Mitra said the government should do something on the abandoned mining sites in his province, as the mining corporations have already left the place.
Mitra, a former congressman, said that small scale mining firms are irresponsible on their activities and that they are not regulated. “Some are called small scale but they may be composed of ten or twenty groups so it’s like large scale mining also,” he said.
“Unlike large scale mining firms that have rehabilitation plans, small scale mining firms have no plans at all. A lot of mining laws have to be reviewed,” Mitra said.
Dr. Aljoy Abarquez, of the CSIRO Plant, said mining companies have a rehabilitation fund but the question is whether it is sufficient to take care of the rehabilitation of mining sites.
“Before mining companies are given permission to mine, they must have a rehabilitation plan that must also include the rehabilitation fund, unlike in the past mining firms just kept on extracting on mining sites without a plan,” Abarquez said.
“Now is the time to be serious in the rehabilitation and restoration of these areas. Our main concern is the prevention of land destruction on mining sites and how it can be restored to be usable land again,” Abarquez said.
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