LA TRINIDAD, Benguet — Due to the unimpressive role of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in preserving and protecting the rapidly deteriorating condition of the region’s watersheds, the Cordillera Regional Development Council (RDC) here wants the national government to turnover to indigenous communities the budget and functions of reforesting the denuded mountains in order to come up with a sustainable watershed rehabilitation and management program.

Ifugao Gov. Teodoro Baguilat Jr. pointed out it is best for the government to devolve to the grassroots level the ambitious effort to reforest the region’s watersheds since the people in the communities within the forested areas know how to protect the forest cover provided that they will be given the appropriate reward for such effort.

Based on a study conducted by the RDC-CAR, at least 8,400 square meters of forests are being denuded annually because of the conversion of the forests to commercial vegetable farms for their livelihood.

However, Baguilat argued the best way to convince the communities to preserve and protect the rapidly deteriorating watersheds is to allow the communities to be rewarded by being stewards of the fruit-bearing trees so that they will be encouraged and empowered to plant more fruit trees within the forests and harvest their fruits for them to earn income to sustain their living by selling such fruits.

Because of the alleged failure of some DENR offices in the different parts of the region to satisfactorily abate deforestation, especially in the tri-boundaries of Benguet, Ifugao and Mountain Province, the RDC-CAR demanded the quick response team, which is composed of various government and non-government groups led by the DENR, to come out with a comprehensive report on its accomplishments in stopping the massive cutting of trees in the identified critical watersheds.

Baguilat challenged the RDC-CAR to pursue the long overdue desire of the different provinces for the lowland communities to pay the cordillera a corresponding wealth user’s fee representing the use of the region’s natural resource for domestic, industrial and agricultural purposes so that it could raise enough funds to maintain the region’s watersheds.