DENR opens protected areas to special private use

Palaui Island in Cagayan province, one of the country’s more than 200 protected areas.

Individuals, groups and companies can again apply for special use agreement of protected areas (Sapa), now that the suspension of its issuance has been lifted, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu announced on Friday.

But even with the grant of a Sapa, a protected area retains its status as such, with zoning regulations in place to ensure its regulated and limited use, said Meriden Maranan of the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The DENR suspended the issuance of Sapas in 2011 because of the absence of a standard rate for the “development fee” imposed on applicants, Maranan said.

The Sapa is an instrument issued to private persons and groups that allows them to make productive use of a protected area identified under Republic Act No. 7586, or the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 1992.

For poverty reduction

The Sapa is meant “to provide access and economic opportunities to indigenous peoples, tenured migrant communities and other stakeholders” of protected areas.

By allowing occupants the use of the land to earn a sustainable livelihood, the Sapa hopes to reduce poverty, the DENR said.

Cimatu said the Sapa also sought to make full use of protected areas in line with the principles of sustainable development and biodiversity conservation by serving as a guide in their appropriate zoning.

Under Department Administrative Order 2007-17 signed by then Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes, the Sapa allows protected areas to be used for agroforestry, ecotourism facilities, campsites, communication and power facilities, irrigation canals, aquaculture, and for  weather and other scientific monitoring facilities.

Development fees

“The permit also serves as a regulatory tool for increased resource use beyond carrying capacity and for increasing local economic opportunities, such as increased local employment from ecotourism establishments,” Cimatu said.

In a statement, BMB director Crisanta Marlene Rodriguez said that with the lifting of the Sapa suspension, guidelines could now determine how much development fees may be collected from users.

“The development fees will be imposed based on the fixed percentage of the zonal value of the land and improvements on it,” Rodriguez said.

Aside from the development fee, the DENR will also be collecting an administrative fee of P5,000 from the proponent for every Sapa application filed, to cover the cost of examining, assessing and processing the requirements submitted. The fee will be deposited in the Integrated Protected Area Fund.