In the Balabac Strait Marine Biodiversity Conservation Corridor, CI is working with Tanggol Kalikasan Foundation, Inc. (TK) to orient local stakeholders in environmental laws. TK conducted two Law Enforcement Trainings for local stakeholders in the Balabac Strait Corridor, one of the hotspots for various illegal activities in the Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape. The first training was conducted on August 28-31, 2006 and participated in by 52 people coming from the Municipal Government of Balabac, members of the Philippine Navy and the Philippine Coastguard stationed in the area, members of the Philippine National Police, including Barangay Captains (elected village leaders), who all play important roles in the enforcement and implementation of environmental laws. The training included an orientation on the Philippine Fisheries Code and the Wildlife Act as well as other relevant laws. It also gave the trainees the opportunity to learn how to examine fishes caught by illegal means such as bombing (dynamite) and poisoning (sodium and cyanide). Sessions on the proper way of arresting, seizure, boarding the boats and detention of violators, including the use of arms and communication equipment were conducted.
Spotting an illegally caught fish - by poisoning or by blasting — is part of the training organized by Tanggol Kalikasan to orient local stakeholders about environmental laws.
A second round of enforcement training was conducted for fishermen groups such as members of the Municipal Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council (MFARMC) along with other volunteer groups called Bantay Dagat (Guardians of the Sea) who are deputized and may implement citizens’ arrest against violators of environmental laws. This was conducted on September 20-24, 2006, also in the municipality of Balabac. 70 participated in this training course.
On-the-ground law enforcement training for MFARMC officials and Bantay Dagat (Guardians of the Sea) Volunteers in Balabac.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Monday, September 11, 2006
Anti-logging drive in Quezon yields hot lumber
Source: Copyright 2006, Philippine Inquirer
Byline: Delfin Mallari Jr.
The weeklong antilogging operation in the Sierra Madre mountains in Quezon province yielded more than 117 cubic meters of illegally cut forest products.
Dubbed “Oplan Baykuran,” the operation that ended Friday also yielded one illegal band saw found deep in the forest.
More than 94 cu m of square logs, flitches and sawn lumber of the red-lauan and almaciga, two banned species, had been counted and were put under the custody of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Real town, said Jay Lim, program coordinator of Tanggol Kalikasan-Southern Tagalog (TK-ST).
“We still have some pieces to retrieve from the log pond in the upper parts of the mountain,” Lim said in a mobile phone interview from Infanta town.
“Most of the confiscated wood products belong to illegal loggers from the lowlands,” Nilo Tamoria, director of the DENR-Special Concern Division and leader of the raiding team, told the Inquirer on Wednesday.
Tamoria said the seized items were found in a big log pond in Sitio (sub-village) Mabilog in Barangay Pagsangahan, General Nakar town.
The raiders, composed of personnel from the DENR-National Anti-Environmental Crime Task Force (Naectaf), the military and TK-ST, also found an illegal band saw hastily buried along the banks of the Agos River in Mabilog.
On Wednesday, Environment Undersecretary Roy Kyamko, Naectaf deputy head, visited the sites of the operation and inspected the confiscated forest products.
“We will sustain these operations. This is just the first phase. There will be more,” Kyamko told newsmen.
Tamoria said another big stock of illegally cut forest products were discovered in Barangay Lagmak in the upper portion of the forest with an estimated volume of at least 70 cu m.
But he admitted that the operatives face the difficult task of retrieving the lumber from the said place which could only be reached in two days and one night of walking.
He said the illegally cut wood could not be brought out of the mountain without being noticed by government operatives and volunteers.
The multisectoral forces have been combing the Sierra Madre mountain ranges since a week ago in what could be considered one of the biggest anti-illegal logging operations in the area in recent times.
The massive operation was preceded by a reconnaissance by volunteers guided by an unidentified “informer” who tipped off the locations of several log ponds atop the mountain which is maintained by an illegal logging syndicate.
The forest products were hauled down by at least 30 log haulers or “magbubulaog.” The TK-ST paid the haulers using funds granted by the Philippine Tropical Forest Conservation Foundation.
Copyright 2006, Philippine Inquirer
Byline: Delfin Mallari Jr.
The weeklong antilogging operation in the Sierra Madre mountains in Quezon province yielded more than 117 cubic meters of illegally cut forest products.
Dubbed “Oplan Baykuran,” the operation that ended Friday also yielded one illegal band saw found deep in the forest.
More than 94 cu m of square logs, flitches and sawn lumber of the red-lauan and almaciga, two banned species, had been counted and were put under the custody of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Real town, said Jay Lim, program coordinator of Tanggol Kalikasan-Southern Tagalog (TK-ST).
“We still have some pieces to retrieve from the log pond in the upper parts of the mountain,” Lim said in a mobile phone interview from Infanta town.
“Most of the confiscated wood products belong to illegal loggers from the lowlands,” Nilo Tamoria, director of the DENR-Special Concern Division and leader of the raiding team, told the Inquirer on Wednesday.
Tamoria said the seized items were found in a big log pond in Sitio (sub-village) Mabilog in Barangay Pagsangahan, General Nakar town.
The raiders, composed of personnel from the DENR-National Anti-Environmental Crime Task Force (Naectaf), the military and TK-ST, also found an illegal band saw hastily buried along the banks of the Agos River in Mabilog.
On Wednesday, Environment Undersecretary Roy Kyamko, Naectaf deputy head, visited the sites of the operation and inspected the confiscated forest products.
“We will sustain these operations. This is just the first phase. There will be more,” Kyamko told newsmen.
Tamoria said another big stock of illegally cut forest products were discovered in Barangay Lagmak in the upper portion of the forest with an estimated volume of at least 70 cu m.
But he admitted that the operatives face the difficult task of retrieving the lumber from the said place which could only be reached in two days and one night of walking.
He said the illegally cut wood could not be brought out of the mountain without being noticed by government operatives and volunteers.
The multisectoral forces have been combing the Sierra Madre mountain ranges since a week ago in what could be considered one of the biggest anti-illegal logging operations in the area in recent times.
The massive operation was preceded by a reconnaissance by volunteers guided by an unidentified “informer” who tipped off the locations of several log ponds atop the mountain which is maintained by an illegal logging syndicate.
The forest products were hauled down by at least 30 log haulers or “magbubulaog.” The TK-ST paid the haulers using funds granted by the Philippine Tropical Forest Conservation Foundation.
Copyright 2006, Philippine Inquirer
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