INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
TACLOBAN CITY — A decade after Supertyphoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan), local officials of Borongan City and stakeholders signed a pact to protect the city’s forest covers.
Mayor Jose Ivan Dayan Agda said a significant forest cover spared the city from being directly hit by typhoons.
The last time Borongan, the provincial capital of Eastern Samar was directly hit by a typhoon was 10 years ago when it was among the areas pummeled by Yolanda.
“We know that for the past several years, our environment has provided us protection from natural calamities, particularly typhoons. (And) 62 percent of our land area involves forests and we will do everything to make it remain as it is,” Agda said during the forest summit held at Eastern Samar State University in Borongan on December 12.
A copy of the proposed revised environment code was also submitted by Agda to the members of the city council for review.
The summit was attended by national government agencies, civil society organizations, the multi-sectoral forest protection committee, barangay officials, and members of academe.
Agda said that when he attended the Conference of Parties (COP) 28 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Dubai, Michael Bloomberg of the United Nations and Bloomberg Philanthropies pledged $100,000 worth of funds for Borongan’s environmental projects.
He was asked by Bloomberg to come up with a written proposal for a chosen project or program for climate change reduction.
Agda emphasized that joining the international conference on climate resilience marked a crucial development in forging partnerships with agencies and organizations concerned with climate adaptation and environmental conservation.
Agda called on communities to help them conserve their ecosystem during the summit.
Lawyer Dario Suarez, acting assistant regional director for technical services of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, stressed the numerous benefits of forests.
“Forests are among the most valuable natural resources in the Philippines and globally. They provide a range of ecosystem services, including the provision of food crops, water, and livestock,” he said.
“They also provide recreational experiences and serve as a significant carbon sink and are vital for biological conservation and environmental protection,” he added.
READ: Don’t waste lessons from Yolanda
Suarez, however, lamented that forests, just like other natural resources, are being abused in the lieu of economic development.
“This valued ecosystem continues to be threatened. Driven by several activities from agriculture to infrastructure development, to the demand for forest products that often lead to illegal logging or timber poaching,” he said.