The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is hopeful that an ambitious but doable project to protect the Ilog-Hilabangan River Basin in Negros Island will be approved by the government for funding.
The Ilog-Hinabangan River Basin is a critical watershed system that is bounded by several local government units from the twin provinces of Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental.
While the conservation and development project was hatched several years ago, it was only this year that the DENR central office contracted the services of Lichel Technologies, Inc. to undertake an extensive study and prepare an integrated master plan for the said river basin under close supervision by the DENR, Aragon said.
It took about 10 months to prepare the master plan, which was presented early this week to members of the Environment Committee of the Provincial Development Council of Negros Oriental, who after a thorough review, passed a resolution endorsing it to the PDC executive committee.
Mario Aragon of the Forest Resources Development Division of the DENR in Region 7 said the more than P27-billion master plan needs to go through the process of review by the Provincial Development Councils of both Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental before this will be submitted to the regional levels through the National Economic Development Authority in Regions 6 and 7.
The Ilog-Hilabangan River Basin consists of six areas in Negros Occidental, namely, the cities of Himamaylan, Kabankalan and Sipalay and the municipalities of Candoni, Cauayan and Ilog.
In Negros Oriental, it covers the cities of Bais, Bayawan and Tanjay and the municipalities of Ayungon, Bindoy, Jimalalud, Mabinay, Tayasan and Manjuyod.
A total of 156 barangays are within the watershed system of the Ilog-Hinabangan River, the master plan showed.
The Ilog-Hinabangan River Basin integrated management and development plan has a coverage area of 2,118.17 square kilometers or 211,817 hectares, according to Aragon.
The province of Negros Occidental has the bigger share of coverage area of the watershed with 57 percent while 43 percent is in Negros Oriental, he added.
The vision of the Ilog-Hinabangan River Basin management and development plan is to attain “productivity and sustainability of River Basin resources for socio-economic benefits and improved environmental condition” by 2030.
Its mission, meanwhile, is “to ensure the utilization, conservation, development and management of Ilog-Hinabangan River Basin resources in a socio-economic and ecologically sustainable manner.”
The master plan includes the timeline of various development activities and interventions, major issues and concerns, programs and summary of cost.
Disaster risk reduction and management tops the list of priority focus areas in the master plan.
Aragon expressed optimism that despite the project being seemingly “ambitious”, it will get a positive response from the various stakeholders and that implementation phase-by-phase can commence in the next 15 years as targeted. (PNA/JFP)
