10 agroforestry projects in Iloilo to push dev’t, help environment

THE DEPARTMENT of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), has completed and turned over 10 agroforestry infrastructure projects seen to boost development and help protect the environment in Iloilo province.

“These facilities include irrigation pipeline systems, access roads, pathways, and bridges which aim to connect communities to markets, boost their access to social services and help sustain community-based forestry initiatives,” the Embassy of Japan in Manila said in a statement on Monday.

It added that a coffee processing facility was also constructed in the municipality of Janiuay to further develop the local coffee industry and boost the livelihoods of farmers in the area.

First Secretary and Agriculture Attaché Jumpei Tachikawa of the Embassy of Japan said that the projects would help efforts to “improve livelihoods and sustained flow of development in the municipalities, creating a positive ripple effect in neighboring communities.”

Funded through the P1.8-billion cooperation project targeted at building or rehabilitating agroforestry support facilities under the management of the Forestland Management Project (FMP), the projects are also seen to contribute environment protection and mitigate climate change.

“The FMP seeks to protect 71,300 hectares of forests in the country’s watershed areas Upper Magat and Cagayan River Basins, Pampanga River Basin, and the Jalaur River Basin, covering the provinces of Ifugao, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Nueva Ecija, and Iloilo,” said the embassy.

“Launched 10 years ago, the FMP highlighted environmental protection including forestland management as one of the major pillars of collaboration between the Philippines and Japan,” it added.