DENR Assistant Secretary for Field Operations - Eastern Mindanao Ruth M. Tawantawan with DENR-10 Assistant Regional Director Ma. Theresa J. Allen attended the DENR Caraga 3rd Quarter Management Conference for CY 2022 held at the PENRO Agusan del Norte Conference Room in Tiniwisan, Butuan City on September 22, 2022.
Presided over by Regional Executive Director Nonito M. Tamayo, the conference tackled DENR 13 and its field offices’ accomplishments and that of the region’s Mines and Geosciences and the Environmental Management Bureaus, issues affecting the implementation of the agency’s programs and projects, and presentation of data and information in all the programs and projects under all the sectors within the agency.
Participants to the conference were top officials of DENR Caraga: the Assistant Regional Directors, PENR and CENR Officers, Division Chiefs, Planning Officers, and other officials and staff.
The meeting served as a venue to discuss the accomplishments, issues and concerns regarding the implementation of the agency's programs, projects, and activities in the region.##
The Eastern Mindanao Biodiversity Corridor (EMBC) of the DENR-United Nations Development Programme/Global Environment Facility (UNDP/GEF) Biodiversity Corridor Project holds its 1st Corridor Alliance Advisory Committee (CAAC) Meeting on September 20, 2022 at Hotel Oazis in Butuan City.
The CAAC meeting, headed by the project director –– DENR Caraga Regional Executive Director Nonito M. Tamayo, seeks to discuss, set directions, and discourse on the implementation strategies of the project.
The activity was attended by representatives coming from both government and non-government agencies from Caraga and Davao regions, since the two regions host the EMBC.
The Integrated Approach in Management of Major Biodiversity Corridors in the Philippines or BD Corridor Project is a development cooperation between the Government of the Philippines and the UNDP, funded through a grant from the GEF, with DENR as the lead executing agency.
The project aims to operationalize the integrated management of biodiversity corridors to generate multiple benefits including effective conservation of globally threatened species and high conservation value forests, reduce deforestation and degradation, and enhance local biodiversity-friendly livelihoods.##
DENR Caraga is one with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) in the region in advocating collective efforts to combat climate change and to promote environmental conservation through the nationwide simultaneous bamboo and tree planting activities, today, September 13, 2022.
The bamboo/tree planting project with the theme “Buhayin ang Pangangalaga ng Kalikasan”, is conducted within the 12 sites, with a total area of 13.51 hectares, across the region and marks the beginning of the celebration of September 2022 as the Philippine Bamboo Month and Bamboo Day on September 18.
A total of 10,729 bamboo culms and tree seedlings of mixed indigenous tree species were planted by 2,405 participants during the planting activities within Barangays Banza, Maug and Bonbon in Butuan City; Camagong Creek and Brgy. Camagong in Nasipit, Agusan del Norte (ADN); Brgy. Puting Bato in Cabadbaran City; Brgy. Pangaylan IP in Santiago, ADN; Brgy. Karaos in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur (ADS); Brgy. Hawilian Tree Park in Esperanza, ADS; Brgy. Sinobong in Veruela, ADS; Brgy. Nuevo Trabajo in San Luis, ADS; Brgy. Cagniog in Surigao City; Brgy. Burboanan in Bislig City; and Brgy. Benglen, Basilisa in Dinagat Islands.
In his message to the participants in a short program before the tree planting in Barangay Banza, Regional Executive Director Nonito M. Tamayo explained the need to plant trees and implement other nature-based solutions to mitigate climate change and be able to adapt to such changes.##
DENR-13 Regional Executive Director (RED) Nonito M. Tamayo enters into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Butuan City Mayor Hon. Ronnie Vicente C. Lagnada for the implementation of the Forest Land Use Plan (FLUP) of the city, today, September 6, 2022 at the City Mayor's Office Conference Room 2, City Hall Building in Doongan, Butuan City.
The ceremonial signing serves as the last stage and springboard for the future development and plan implementation in the process of the legitimization and approval of the FLUP of Butuan City. The initiative seeks to enhance the protection of the remaining forest lands in Butuan City. During the event, RED Tamayo lauded the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Butuan for their undertakings to properly manage the city’s forest lands to ensure that their natural resources are utilized sustainably.
"I congratulate the LGU of Butuan headed by Honorable Mayor Lagnada, who took the lead in initiating and proactively updating your plan at your own expense. The formulation of this plan is a manifestation of the concerted effort of Butuan City's stakeholders headed by the LGU," RED Tamayo said.
He added, “It is envisioned that the MOA for the FLUP will not be the end of the mutual partnership between DENR and LGU-Butuan but a propeller towards a stronger alliance for the realization of the plan.”
Witnessing the signing of the MOA were DENR Caraga Assistant Regional Director for Technical Services Maritess M. Ocampo, DILG Caraga Assistant Regional Director Donald A. Seronay, Butuan City Vice Mayor Atty. Lawrence Lemuel H. Fortun, Agusan del Norte PENR Officer Achilles Anthony C. Ebron, Nasipit CENR Officer Joseph Leo E. Oconer, Sanguniang Panlalawigan (SP) Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Chairperson Victor Vicente G. Plaza, SP Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Vice-Chairperson Reynante B. Desiata, Butuan City ENRO Alexander C. Alaan, and Butuan City Planning and Development Officer Vicente C. Lagnada Jr.
Forest Management Bureau (FMB) Technical Bulletin No. 2 defined FLUP as "the participatory process of allocating forests and forest lands (FFL) as natural resource assets by the government under appropriate management, tenure arrangement and eventually putting these assets according to their best uses to harmonize uses of forest lands and to attain a balance of production activities with forest protection and biodiversity conservation."
Natural Resources-Caraga, Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF), Caraga State University (CSU), and Father Saturnino Urios University (FSUU) joined forces for the launch of the “AgiLAYA: Lasting Freedom for the Philippine Eagle” campaign (Caraga leg) with renowned ornithologist and Philippine Eagle Conservation Champion, Dr. Robert “Bob” S. Kennedy, on August 11-13, 2022.
The campaign aims to increase public awareness of the status of the country’s national bird, the Philippine Eagle, which is considered to be “critically endangered” under the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, hoping that the charismatic talks by expert ornithologists and conservationists and the film show would bring about behavioral change among the audiences who mostly belong to the academe that has the expertise and the capacity in instilling to the youth the messages on the importance of conserving and protecting this national treasure and the role it plays in maintaining a healthy ecosystem.
Specifically, the initiative seeks to reduce, if not eradicate, the continuous shooting and trapping of the Philippine eagles in the wild.
The campaign commenced at the CSU-Ampayon, Butuan City Campus wherein CSU Vice-President for Research and Extension Dr. Rowena Varela, ARD for Technical Services Maritess M. Ocampo representing DENR-Caraga Regional Executive Director Nonito M. Tamayo, Cantilan Bank President and former PEF and CSU Trustee Lt. Gen. (ret.) William K. Hotchkiss delivered messages on the importance of the protection and conservation of the Philippine Eagle.
PEF Executive Director Mr. Dennis J.I. Salvador gave an overview of the film “To Save Our Eagle” before showing it to the audience comprising CSU's college and graduate school students and some of its faculty members, DENR personnel involved in biodiversity conservation, and some media practitioners of the region.
After the showing of the 45-minute video, Dr. Jayson C. Ibanez of the PEF talked about the state of the national bird complementing Dr. Bob Kennedy's feature talk on his journey concerning the Philippine Eagle Conservation Program, which highlighted the event.
In RED Tamayo’s message delivered by ARD Ocampo during the public talk, he said, there are nine sites reported to have sightings of the Philippine eagle within the region, and a total of eight birds have been recorded and documented, of which five, were turned over to the PEF, and the three remain free in the wild (2 parent eagles and 1 juvenile).
He added that this significant population of the raptor in the region makes the place a strategic site for the launch of the AgiLAYA campaign.
He also thanked the PEF for the technical support it extended to the DENR Caraga in the rescue and rehabilitation of the Philippine eagles.
Before the Film-showing and public talks, a press conference took place where ARD Ocampo, Dr. Kennedy, CSU VP for RIE Dr. Varela, PEF Executive Director Mr. Salvador, and Lt. Gen. (ret.) Hotchkiss of Cantilan Bank served as a resource person or panel member. National and local media practitioners participated in the conference.
The CSU’s University Center for Culture and the Arts (UCAA) artists performed a dance number depicting the journey of the Philippine eagle in the wild.
Meanwhile, Father Saturnino Urios University (FSUU) sponsored another set of the same campaign held at its main campus in Butuan City the next day, August 12, 2022.
During the activity, FSUU President Fr. John Christian U. Young expressed his full support for the AgiLAYA campaign. FSUU students and some of its faculty members attended the event.
Butuan City Councilor Joseph Omar O. Andaya, representing Mayor Ronnie Vicente C. Lagnada, graced the occasion, showing the LGU's support of the event for the protection of the Philippine eagles.
The activity ended with the planting of trees at the "Arboretum and Rest and Recreation Area" in Sitio Sanyata, Barangay San Roque, Bislig City under CENRO Bislig in Surigao del Sur. Surigao del Sur PENRO Victor B. Sabornido, CENRO Nathaniel E. Racho of Bislig, and other DENR personnel together with Dr. Kennedy, PEF Executive Director Mr. Salvador, Dr. Ibanez, and other PEF staff, LGU Bislig City Officials, members of the Eagles Club, and representatives of Cantilan Bank exemplify their commitment of support to the campaign for the protection and conservation of the Philippine eagle by enhancing the forest which served as the raptors’ habitat.
