Group turns barren land into one of the best NGP sites in Western Visayas

It’s a story of strong work ethics, of unified collaboration and commitment to a common goal: the revival of a precious forestland.

After years of abuse, illegal logging of old growth forests, rampant kaingin activities and probably, poaching of wildlife, have left the forestlands of Hinobaan town almost deserted.

In 2016, members and officers of the Damutan Agro-Forestry Farmers Association (DAFFA), a People’s Organization established on Oct 21, 2014, entered into an agreement with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Region 6 to reforest 95 hectares of barren forestlands in Sitio Soso, Brgy. Damutan, Hinoba-an, Negros Occidental with Acacia mangium through the National Greening Program (NGP).

DAFFA President Cherry L. Sarnate recounted how the plantation site was covered with wild grasses and has become almost barren with a few remaining trees, several years prior to the NGP.

DAFFA is one of the 41 registered People’s Organizations (POs) within the jurisdiction of the Community ENR Office of Kabankalan City.

The area was then a hotspot for rebels and used to be their stronghold. Aside from that, a private company was operating in the area, engaged in wanton illegal logging of all tree species that was abundant in the Hinoba-an mountains for their personal gain.

Since the reforestation of Sitio Soso, Brgy. Damutan in 2016, DAFFA’s officers and members has worked hard and successfully reforested the forests in Sitio Soso, Brgy. Damutan, Hinoba-an.

Their commitment has resulted in 97 percent survival rate of the planted seedlings.

DAFFA is composed of 45 male and 20 female members. It is a project recipient of the DENR since 2014.

Out of the total 174,094 seedlings produced, the association has planted 158,270.

“When NGP was not yet implemented, it is difficult for us to provide for our family’s daily needs. But when ENGP was implemented in our area, we were able to provide the daily needs of the family, sent our children to school and even bought motorcycle, and TV,” said Rodnel Larisma, a DAFFA member and one of the NGP beneficiaries.

“Because of the NGP, we were able to have a micro-lending which provide much-needed help to our beneficiaries. We were also able to have our swine disposal and has built our multi-purpose building,” Sarnate told the DENR team.

Recently, the DENR launched the Search for Best NGP sites, which aims to showcase the positive impacts of the project to beneficiaries and the communities nationwide.

The DENR Region 6 National Greening Program (NGP) Team led by NGP Regional Coordinator Wilfredo P. Canto chose Sitio Soso, Brgy. Damutan as the region’s official entry to the search.

Along with the Regional Public Affairs Offfice (RPAO) team led by its Chief, Artemio Salvador C. Colacion, the joint team had painstakingly gathered video footages and conducted interviews in the community and the beneficiaries on site.

Before Damutan’s success story was chosen, a list of successful NGP sites were evaluated from six provinces –Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros Occidental.

Each field office sent an entry to the NGP Office of Region 6. After a thorough evaluation, the list was narrowed down to four sites.

The remaining four sites were carefully screened by the regional team based on the criteria set by the National Awards Committee and the result was presented to the regional executive director.

“All of the entries have inspiring stories about people and environment where pictures depict how the project should be that is considered as indeed success stories. But we need to choose only one, and that is Damutan Agro-Forestry Farmers Association or DAFFA in Negros Occidental that emerged the best among the rest,” DENR-6 Regional Executive Director Francisco E. Milla Jr. said. DENR-6