Japan helps protect Nueva Ecija watershed from fire

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — Japan is helping protect the Pantabangan-Carranglan watershed in Nueva Ecija province where fires last year destroyed 270 of 9,000 hectares of tree plantations, an official said.

Animal hunting, cogon collection and slash-and-burn (kaingin) farming were the common causes of fires that happened mostly in the dry months, said Alfred Collado, chief of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in the province.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency gave the DENR P1.2 million in firefighting equipment, consisting of 22 sets of jet shooters (manual power sprayers), fire suits, rubber fire swatters, axes and raincoats, he said.

The plantations were established in the 44,000-ha watershed through the agency’s forestland management project.

Collado said the DENR had reached out to communities to involve residents in helping prevent fires in the watershed, the source of irrigation water that serves 80,000 ha of farms in Nueva Ecija, Tarlac and Pampanga provinces. —Tonette Orejas