Reforestation, anti-illegal logging top DENR priorities in 2019

Reforestation program and curbing illegal logging operations would be top priorities of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in 2019, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said as he defended the agency’s P24.17-billion proposed budget for next year.

During deliberations at the House of Representatives committee on appropriations last Aug. 7, Cimatu told lawmakers that his office will “still be able to effectively carry out its mandate of protecting the environment” even if the DENR is asking for a lower budget for 2019.

The DENR’s proposed budget for 2019 is lower by P749 million than its 2018 allocation of P25.72 billion, and represents only 0.64 percent of the proposed P3.757-trillion national budget for next year.

“All we need is to be prudent and judicious in spending our budget and make sure that every single centavo is spent efficiently for programs promoting environmental protection,” Cimatu said.

The DENR is asking Congress a total of P5.96 billion to finance its reforestation and forest protection projects for 2019, with the Enhanced National Greening Program (ENGP) getting the lion’s share at P5.15 billion, followed by the Forest Protection Program/Anti-Illegal Logging Program with P809.4 million proposed allocation.

Cimatu explained that the twin programs “aim to improve the nation’s forest cover and ensure continued protection of all existing forests in the country.”

The NGP started as a six-year massive forest rehabilitation program that aimed to cover 1.5 million hectares of degraded forestland by the end of 2016. It was extended until 2028 through an executive order issued in November 2015 in a bid to rehabilitate 7.1 million hectares more.

Cimatu explained that under the “enhanced” NGP, the Duterte administration aims to reforest some 1.2 million hectares degraded lands between 2017 to 2022 in accordance with the updated 2016-2028 Master Plan for Forestry Development.

For 2019, Cimatu said the DENR targets to cover some 143,187 hectares and produce 138.2 million planting materials.

Cimatu reported that around 193.05 million seedlings have been planted to 215,036 hectares from January in 2017 to June of this year with a total seedling production of some 317.9 million during the period.

Cimatu said that from the launching of the program in 2011 to June 30, 2018, a total of 1.87 million hectares of land have been rehabilitated with 1.56 billion seedlings planted.

“This has generated 4.3 million jobs, benefitting 614,128 individuals mostly residing in forest resources-dependent communities,” Cimatu said.

Meanwhile, the DENR has proposed P732 million for its Enhanced Biodiversity Conservation Program, the department’s third priority for next year.

The other priority programs of the DENR for 2019 are solid waste management (P656.8 million); geohazard, groundwater assessment and responsible mining (P468 million); improved land administration and management (P398.9 million); scaling up of coastal and marine ecosystems (P267.7 million); clean air (P111.6 million), and Manila Bay cleanup (P80 million).