The provincial chief of the Department of Environment & Natural Resources in Negros Oriental has assured that the trees being cut by geothermal power leader Energy Development Corp. in Valencia town are not century-old.
Charlie Fabre, Provincial Environment & Natural Resources Office chief, disclosed that majority of these trees, in fact, measure 20 to 30 feet in diameter, contrary to a news report quoting environmental advocates that they were centuries-old trees.
He admitted, though, that these are natural forest trees that were inspected prior to cutting, as applied for by EDC with the DENR, as part of its expansion project at the Southern Negros Geothermal Production Field in Valencia.
Fabre explained the EDC had applied last year for a special land use permit, and a tree cutting permit with the DENR for its expansion project, which involves a road construction project that would require the cutting of a certain number of trees.
Despite a moratorium on the cutting of natural and residual forest trees, as stipulated in Executive Order No. 23, special permits are given to certain government agencies and non-government entities with “high impact” projects that affect, for instance, the economy or the energy supply of the country, Fabre went on to say.
In the case of EDC, the DENR has inspected the proposed site for the tree-cutting activity, and allowed only those that are in the “less sensitive and less-damaged area” to be cut, according to Fabre.
“We are not hiding anything”, Fabre said, lamenting the news report that described the activity at the EDC site as “massive” tree-cutting.
The PENRO chief pointed out they are cautious with endorsing applications for special permits because they are aware of the current state of the remaining forests in Negros Oriental.
In fact, part of the agreement in granting the EDC the permits to cut trees in Valencia is for them to replace these with 134,600 seedlings of indigenous species, Fabre disclosed.
Also, a final monitoring report, submitted after the project was completed this year, showed that EDC had actually cut 559 trees only, out of the 1,346 trees applied for, he added.
The reason for this was that EDC decided to avoid unnecessary cutting of trees for its road project, Fabre said.
Fabre also assured that EDC had secured an Environmental Compliance Certificate from the Environmental Management Bureau of the DENR as a pre-requisite to the project.
Environmental advocates have expressed their opposition to the said project, and had asked the DENR to present to the public copies of the permits and the ECC. (PNA)
