By Stephen J Pedroza
Stewardship for Mother Nature requires a multi-sectoral cooperation, thereby Xavier University frontlines an environmental movement designed to propel communities to engage in a sustainable mechanism ensuring the recuperation of our forest resources in Northern Mindanao.
XU sets to launch the region-wide environmental platform dubbed as Valuing Ecosystem Services Together (VEST) on November 4-7 at the Activity Center of Centrio Mall.
"The grand launch is only the tip of the iceberg,” said Evans I Yonson, a Development Communication professor and head of the social marketing team.
“Our main objective is to reach everyone in Cagayan de Oro City that they become our partners, our VESTfriends.”
VEST is grounded upon the philosophy that what happens at the top trickles down to the lowlands. Evidently, during the lash of Typhoon Sendong in December 2011, most water which came down and ravaged CDO originated from the headwater tributaries in Bukidnon.
However, the highlands of Bukidnon have been facing environmental decay over the years due to illegal logging, hunting of endangered species and socio-economic pressures which resulted to low water infiltration capacity for our watersheds.
“This rehabilitation will provide the ecological service of preventing further flooding in the city that is why it is important that we bring in the communities from the downstream and upland to this landscape restoration,” said Dr Hilly Ann Roa-Quiaoit, XU vice-president for Research and Social Outreach (RSO), the office spearheading this green project.
VEST targets five sectors to take part in this ecological undertaking, namely, the corporations, cooperatives, the academe, religious groups and the households.
“We wanted the cooperatives to join us because they have a budget which they call as the Community Development Fund (CDF) that they can allocate for the rehabilitation of the environment. We have also targeted the religious groups because this is a spiritual engagement in a way … to reconcile with God’s creation,” Dr Quiaoit continued.
The households in Northern Mindanao are also encouraged to join the movement because they are “the primary beneficiaries of these rehabilitation efforts.”
Dr Quiaoit added, “We have also targeted schools because we wanted to promote the awareness of the interconnectivity of the whole landscape, and lastly, we have targeted the corporations because they have this corporate social responsibility and we hope that they will support our cause.”
The VEST activities
Part of this green endeavor is to mainstream the principles of VEST. With this idea, the XU core team has organized a slew of activities to raise awareness and encourage Kagay-anons to participate in the fund drive to reforest Mt Kalatungan and reward the efforts of the indigenous people community as the forest managers.
“In this project, we have lined up several activities until March 2015. We want a paradigm shift to a responsible and environment-conscious citizenry," Yonson said.
Social media interventions were also used by the core team to reach wider audience especially the youth.
A photo exhibit will kick off the grand launch on Nov 4. The exhibit showcases stills and stories of the connection between the giants of Bukidnon and the CDO river basin as well as the environmental efforts of the people of Northern Mindanao.
Leaders of various sectors are going to speak during the opening ceremony to express their support and stance on various environmental issues we are dealing at the present.
High school and college students will also compete in an essay writing contest with the theme “Sustainable synergy sparks from valuing ecosystem services together” also on Nov 4 and in a poster making contest on Nov 5.
On Nov 6, a trivia night dubbed as “50 Shades of Green” will draw together 50 teams (composed of three members per team) from CDO to test their mental acumen on how well they know the facts and tales about the environment.
Lastly, the grand launch culminates with a concert on Nov 7 featuring “lively and inspiring performances from various local artists, stirring the audience to step up and do their share in VEST.”
Balancing economic growth and eco-preservation
VEST is the offshoot campaign of the Payment for Ecological Services (PES), a “payment scheme” designed to protect our forest in the highlands of Mindanao so that when it rains, the water will not be devastating by the time it reaches urbanized areas.
In NorMin, the project is piloted within the ancestral domain of the Miarayon-Lapok-Lirongan-Tinaytayan Tribal Association (MILALITTRA), one of the 12 lumad communities in the protected area of Talakag, Bukidnon where Mt Kalatungan imposes.
The 5-year community development master plan of MILALITTRA aims to reforest 832 hectares, while 816 hectares will be allotted for agroforestry.
The mountain is among the 18 protected areas to be provided with PES technical and management assistance by both the public and private sectors to achieve balanced and inclusive growth.
“We can balance economic growth and environmental protection by operationalizing sustainability in any development. The principles of sustainable development can guide us in achieving this balance,” said Anne B Mejares, technical officer of the project.
The guiding principles of sustainable development which Mejares enumerated were the integration of environmental and economic decisions, the shared responsibility and understanding, and ecological conservation, among others.
“Let us always remember that economic development must go hand in hand with environmental protection. It is interdependent and indivisible; you can’t have one without the other.”
