By Antonio Colina IV
DAVAO CITY – Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur Municipal Tourism Officer Julius Paner urged the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) to reconsider revisiting the existing policy, expanding the allowable number of trekkers to Mt. Apo Natural Park from 50 to 100 a day.
The policy limiting the number of climbers to 50 was imposed on April 12, 2017, which was also the day PAMB lifted the “indefinite closure” of Mt. Apo because of the forest fire that engulfed its peak and lasted for over two weeks.
During “Wednesdays at Habi at Kape,” Paner said discussions were ongoing on revisiting the existing regulation to further boost the municipal government’s effort to promote ecotourism as a way to strike a balance between “tourism and environmental protection.”
Paner said that while regulating trekking activities will help preserve the country’s highest peak and prevent similar massive fire, the carrying capacity of the Sta. Cruz trail can still be expanded explaining that the 50-limit rule is quite a “small number.”
He said 100 trekkers per trail was still manageable.
“The local government generates small revenues from tourism. Ecotourism is a balance between tourism and environmental protection. We don’t want mass tourism. Most of the benefit from ecotourism will go directly to the communities, tour guides, porters, habal-habal drivers, and sari-sari stores,” he said.
Paner said the local government strictly implements the existing regulation of 50 trekkers a day pending decision of the PAMB. He said the Sta. Cruz trail has 110 porters and 70 tour guides.
The municipal government is also set to stage the Mt. Apo Boulder Face Challenge and Mt. Apo Sky and Vertical Race on April 18 and April 25 to 26, respectively, Paner said.
He added they will limit the number of runners, mostly European and Southeast Asian, for the Boulder Face Challenge to 50 and 100 for the two-day out, out-and-back Sky and Vertical Race.