| Ridge to reef, new directions and opportunities in Western Visayas |
|
|
| Wednesday, 01 February 2012 | |
|
The REEN 6 conference had for its theme "Ridge to Reef: New Directions and Opportunities" and aimed to upgrade and update information and knowledge in managing environmental problems from ridges to reefs. The activity was also intended as a venue for an exchange of ideas on current environmental issues.
As explained by Dr Melchor Magramo, Conference Co-Chair, REEN 6 continues to be active in Western Visayas in undertaking environmental education initiatives with its various member institutions composed of the universities and colleges in the region. The continuous support of the provincial government is critical and sustained through the Provincial Environmental and Natural Resources Office who shared their efforts in environmental protection and law enforcement. Sylvia Miclat, ESSC Executive Director, briefly shared the 1987 and 2002 forest cover comparison and the highlights of the provincial statistical figures and maps developed during ESSC's 2002 forest cover study. The more critical results emerged from the analysis undertaken by Pedro Walpole, ESSC Director for Research, and were shared with the congress participants to suggest ways to move forward. These include the most critical areas of change such as those with: thinning vegetation due to illegal cutting, impact of burning, scrub and full canopy, bamboo as the dominant vegetation, park lands and small lots with fruit trees, and commercial interests in degraded forest lands. A comprehensive review of forest cover is also called for in terms of climate change and what we need to know. Activities needed to initiate, continue, support, and sustain include delineation of mangroves, plantations, and CADTs, CBFMAs, and mining, commercial, and community forest areas, where more detailed mapping is needed. Field methods need to be developed for ground truthing processes and landscape analysis for pine forests and plantations, scrub cover studies for transitioning grasslands and bamboo, and further understanding macaranga and other forest associations as indicators of less or no disturbance, and fire control areas with core species intact. The maps and analysis are available online at ESSC's website. |
|
| Last Updated ( Monday, 13 February 2012 ) |
ESSC shared anew the results of the 2002 forest cover analysis that focused on an updated approach to the country's uplands for action last 27 January 2012 during the 5th Regional Scientific Congress and Annual General Assembly of the Regional Environmental Education Network 6 (REEN 6) held at the John B Lacson Foundation Maritime University in Arevalo, Iloilo City, Iloilo.