ILOILO CITY – Typhoons are the biggest threat to forests in Western Visayas, the Enforcement Division of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-6 said.
LANDSLIDES and mudslides have been identified as one of threats to forests in Western Visayas. Photo shows an area hit by a landslide in Miag-ao town, Iloilo province. (DENR-6)
The DENR-6 found out that out of the 13 identified threats to forests in 2022, typhoons caused the most damage with 155 occurences. Forester June Melissa C. Garol, chief of the DENR-6 Enforcement Division, said that typhoons were followed by hut or house or illegal infrastructures with 32. Landslides and mudslides were third with 27; cutting of trees with 24; slash-and-burn or “kaingin” farming with 16; hunting with 15; annual and perennial farming with 13; garbage with 11; charcoal with eight; fire and pests and diseases, both with five, and logging trail and mining and quarrying with one each. Garol said that these were recorded by forest patrol officers called “lawin” in the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental. They used the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool and Cyber Tracker applications installed on their phones as part of the Lawin Forest and Biodiversity Protection System which eliminates the manual process of encoding field. The DENR-6 is working closely with local government units to implement programs to minimize the threats.
LANDSLIDES and mudslides have been identified as one of threats to forests in Western Visayas. Photo shows an area hit by a landslide in Miag-ao town, Iloilo province. (DENR-6)
The DENR-6 found out that out of the 13 identified threats to forests in 2022, typhoons caused the most damage with 155 occurences. Forester June Melissa C. Garol, chief of the DENR-6 Enforcement Division, said that typhoons were followed by hut or house or illegal infrastructures with 32. Landslides and mudslides were third with 27; cutting of trees with 24; slash-and-burn or “kaingin” farming with 16; hunting with 15; annual and perennial farming with 13; garbage with 11; charcoal with eight; fire and pests and diseases, both with five, and logging trail and mining and quarrying with one each. Garol said that these were recorded by forest patrol officers called “lawin” in the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental. They used the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool and Cyber Tracker applications installed on their phones as part of the Lawin Forest and Biodiversity Protection System which eliminates the manual process of encoding field. The DENR-6 is working closely with local government units to implement programs to minimize the threats.