More LGUs planning conservation areas

BACOLOD CITY—Six more local government units in Negros Occidental are drafting ordinances to create their own local conservation areas (LCAs) as part of an eco-tourism initiative, an official of the Provincial Environment Management Office (PEMO) said.

LCA Coordinator Pierre San Jose said 11 LGUs in the province already have laws creating LCAs, and six more are in the process of establishing their own LCAs.

The creation of conservation areas is one of the initiatives of PEMO to push environmental conservation and open economic opportunities for the community, Senior Environment Management Specialist Maria Elena San Jose said.

Already with LCAs are the towns of Cauayan, Ilog, Binalbagan, Hinigaran, Pontevedra, San Enrique, Valladolid, and Pulupandan, and cities of Kabankalan, Himamaylan, and Bago, San Jose said.

The other six that are working on setting up LCAs are the cities of Silay, Cadiz, and Sagay, and the towns of E.B Magalona, Manapla, and Hinobaan.

Eligible as conservation areas are forest/watersheds, special unique landscapes, inland water bodies, urban ecosystems, and coastal/marine sites. The 11 LGUs belong to the coastal/ marine category.

These towns and cities, except Cauayan, host the 109-kilometer Ramsar Site for Wetlands Conservation.

San Jose also said forming LCAs is a legacy project since it creates local policies such as executive orders and ordinances to sustain the program, participated by both the local government and the community.