BY MIKE DEL ROSARIO
QUIRINO Governor Dakila Carlo Cua has approved on July 15, 2021 the Ganano Watershed Committee’s Manual of Operation during the launch of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-led Save Our Watershed Campaign.
Citing Section 16 of Republic Act 7160, also known as the Local Government Code of 1991, Cua explained that local government units (LGUs) are empowered to efficiently and effectively govern their territory, as well as enact measures to protect the environment.
The Ganano sub-watershed in this town which is adjacent to the Magat watershed is one of the Cagayan River’s sub-river basins. It is one of the province’s most important sub-watersheds, supplying water to around 1,000 hectares of irrigated land and that more than half of the sub-watershed which is 7,000 hectares covered by the Quirino Protected Landscape or QPL is a biodiversity hotspot in the Sierra Madre Mountain ranges.
Based on the 2015 National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) forest cover estimates, the sub-forest watershed has 23 percent forest cover and that forest conversion to agricultural uses is continuing, jeopardizing the integrity watershed’s ecosystem.
The Ganano River Sub-Watershed Management Committee (GRSMC) was formed and organized with the goal of promoting and advancing Ganano sub-watershed administration and ensuring long-term management of this natural resource.
GRSMC’s operations will be guided by the manual to provide sustainable directions and given the council’s limited financial resources, the Strategic Direction/Plan is included to provide a blueprint for maintaining and administering the Ganano Subwatershed.
All stakeholders in the Diffun and Ganano sub-watersheds, the GRSMC’s Strategic Direction defines their vision, mission and objectives.
Part of the resolution is the cost-sharing mechanism which aims to create a local fund-generation mechanism that includes contributions from various stakeholders, particularly those who benefit from the supply of ecosystem services, in order to enable a meaningful intervention that conserves and improves the Ganano Watershed’s integrity or condition.
This cost-sharing/co-financing strategy aims to build a responsible constituency in the province that values the watershed/s and the resources contained within it, such as forest, biodiversity, and watershed/water resources as the primary life-support system.
It will enhance existing financing granted and used for this purpose by responsible national government organizations (DENR, DA), as well as the provincial government of Quirino and Diffun LGU.
Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) and PES-like systems should be looked into as a way to raise revenue from those who consume ecosystem services in the watershed. It will be easier for the LGU to allocate funding if local ordinances are passed to support the implementation of watershed management programs and projects through cost-sharing.
Other ordinances, such as improving the environment code, establishing green infrastructures such as planting open spaces/tree parks, and enacting support mechanisms for the enforcement of zoning ordinances for land use regulations in watershed/s, may be enacted to aid in the implementation of watershed management projects.