DENR signs agreement for water system management in Guimaras

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The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Region 6 has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the barangay local government unit of Tanglad and the Tanglad Agro-Forestry Farmers Association, Inc. (TAFFAI) for the management and maintenance of a Small Water Impounding System (SWIS).

DENR 6 Regional Executive Director Livino B. Duran, Punong Barangay Charlie R. Gallano, and TAFFAI President Eva E. Garvilles were the signatories of the MOA.

The ceremony was attended by Guimaras PENR Officer Edgardo M. Rostata, DENR 6 Planning and Management Division Chief Evangeline Regino, PENRO Guimaras Technical Services Division Chief Juliet Gabayeron, and Supervising Ecosystems Management Specialist Leonora Magno.

The SWIS, with a project cost of PHP 1.484 million, was constructed in Barangay Tanglad under the DENR’s Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Program. It has a capacity of 22.3 cubic meters and is situated within a proposed Community Based Forest Management (CBFM) area, as well as existing National Greening Program (NGP) and Enhanced NGP plantations.

“This support facility is a big help for our People’s Organization, the TAFFAI, for them to maintain the plantations and operate water provisions together with the Barangay LGU even as it also seeks to mitigate the impact of water scarcity in the area,” said PENRO Edgardo M. Rostata.

The SWIS will support the maintenance of 154 hectares of plantations managed by TAFFAI members. These include 118 hectares in Barangay Tanglad planted with agro-forestry species, fuelwood, and bamboo, and 36 hectares in Barangays Ayangan and Millan planted with bamboo.

The water system aims to boost the effective management and maintenance of these plantations, stabilize soil conditions, and reduce the impacts of flooding and soil erosion, particularly in bamboo plantations within the CBFM project and NGP/ENGP sites.

“We have been campaigning for this and we believe it is high time our POs and our local government units put value in their Small Water Impounding System (SWIS). I hope the necessity of taking care and ensuring the sustainability of this important structure will now resonate in their consciousness, seeing that we have experienced water crisis at the height of the El Niño,” said DENR 6 Regional Executive Director Livino B. Duran.

TAFFAI is currently applying for a Community-Based Forest Management Agreement (CBFMA) with DENR 6, which would allow them to develop 72.88 hectares of timberland for 25 years.