By Mike Crismundo BUTUAN CITY – In an effort to strictly protect the Agusan Marsh Protected Area (AMPA) and other protected areas within and along Agusan River, the Bantay Danao Conservation Group (BDCG) was reactivated in the marsh communities/municipalities of Bunawan, La Paz, Loreto, Rosarion, San Francisco and Talacogon, all in Agusan del Sur province, it was learned Tuesday. The provincial government of Agusan del Sur and the said municipal local government units (LGUs) and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) are closely coordinating for the reactivation of the BDCG. The BDCG was organized in 2017 with 120 Bantay Danao volunteers deputized by the regional office of the DENR in that same year in an objective to protect the Agusan Marsh. Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary is close to 15,000 hectares protected area in the Philippines declared by former President Fidel V. Ramos. The marshland acts like a sponge, as it is nestled in the midwaters of the Agusan River drainage basin. The Agusan Marsh covers the municipalities of San Francisco, Rosario, Bunawan, Veruela, Loreto, Talacogon, and La Paz in the province of Agusan del Sur. The marsh was declared as a Ramsar Wetland Site in 1999. During the activation, an orientation on Bantay Danao Project was conducted again last week to renew the commitment of volunteers protecting the Agusan Marsh protected areas. The orientation was spearheaded by the officials from DENR-Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (DENR-PENRO), (LGU-PENRO), Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Officer (MENRO-LGU-La Paz), DENR-Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (DENR-CENRO and Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary (AMWS) and Protected Area. Topics during the orientation covered the Bantay Danao Project of the PENRO LGU, the Biophysical and Ecological features of Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary, the institutional arrangement in Agusan Marsh, Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991, Republic Act No. 7686 or the National Integrated Protected Area System, Republic Act No. 9147 of the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act and Presidential Decree 705 or the Forestry Code of the Philippines. To support the advocacy of the project, Agusan del Sur Gov. Adolph Edward G. Plaza approved to provide the volunteers with trainings and accident insurances for the members as well as livelihood support to their communities. “It is really very important to protect the Agusan Marsh and its environ and I urge everybody to help protect and preserve our one and only Agusan Marsh,” Plaza said. To embody environmental conservation, the livelihood supports focus on sustainable use of resources readily available in the locality such as water hyacinth charcoal briquetting, handicraft making using water hyacinth, tikog and oil palm strips, and fish processing. The continuing volunteerism shown by the communities is proof of their environmental sense of responsibility and advocacy. It is the hope of PENRO-LGU that more personalities will volunteer in the future and the advocacy of sustainable use of resources will continue. Since 2016, the conservation group has been assisting the mandated agencies, especially the Protected Area Superintendent (PASu), CENRO and the MENRO as local researchers in documenting and reporting illegal activities and in conducting information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaigns. The continuing volunteerism shown by the communities is proof of their environmental sense of responsibility and advocacy. It is the hope of PENRO-LGU that more personalities will volunteer in the future and the advocacy of sustainable use of resources will continue, the PIO said.