THE government will deploy an additional 2,000 forest protection officers starting next year, the country’s top forestry official said.
Director Ricardo Calderon of the Forest Management Bureau said the deployment of the additional forest protection officers, also called “Bantay Gubat,” will boost the country’s National Forest Protection Program.
There are currently 2,000 forest protection officers, Calderon said.
“Starting next year, we expect to almost double the number of forest protection officers,” he added.
Calderon said the deployment of additional forest protection officers is in line with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’s (DENR) rationalization plan.
He also bared plans to further enhance the capacity of forest protection officers by adapting an innovative approach to conserve wetlands ecosystems and surrounding forests through the Landsape and Wildlife Indicators (Lawin) system, introduced last year in several areas under the DENR-US Agency for International Development (USAid) Philippine Biodiversity and Watersheds Improved for Stronger Economy and Ecosystem Resilience (B+WISER) partnership program.
Lawin uses open-source software that allow the user to record observations of key indicator species and threats in android phones. The data is then exported to a desktop computer and analyzed in the context of the conservation area. The continuous patrolling and analysis of data will help inform management strategies, Calderon said.
“We want our Bantay Gubat to be equipped with the know-how in making periodic reports and in using high-tech gadgets,” he said.
He added that by the end of the year, hiring of Bantay Gubat personnel by the DENR’s regional offices should be completed, and personnel will be ready for deployment.
Qualifications in the hiring of Bantay Gubat will also be leveled up, from the “basic knows-how-to-read-and-write” policy to hiring at least individuals with college level educational attainment, Calderon said.
“We want to increase visibility of our forest law enforcement officers to deter illegal activities in our forest, and we want them to be equipped with know-hows in using high tech gadets,” he said.
Calderon added that with more Bantay Gubat patrolling the forest, illegal activities, such as logging and hunting of wildlife, will be minimized, if not totally stopped.
“Our target is to have a zero illegal-logging hotspots by 2016. Part of their task is to help neutralize illegal-logging syndicates. This can only be done by strengthening our forest law-enforcement activities where they are happening—in the forest,” he said.
There are only 23 remaining illegal logging hotspots in the country, down from 197 illegal logging hotspots when the Aquino administration took over in June 2010, Calderon noted. These illegal logging hotspots are concentrated in Mindanao.
Environment Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje attributed this feat to the successful implementation of Executive Order 23, signed by President Aquino in February 2011, that declared a moratorium on the cutting and harvesting of timber in natural and residual forests.
Around 80 percent of the remaining hotspots are concentrated in Region 13 and Region 11, which includes Compostela Valley.
In Luzon illegal logging hotspots are on the Sierra Madre Mountains, particularly in Calabarzon in the South and Cagayan Valley in the North.