Mt. Kanlaon, Its Myths and Wildlife, Painting by Masaste

 Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park Act of 2001:

A Tragedy of the Commons
  A Call to All Filipinos to Protect the Remaining Forest

     (an adaptation of Green Alert Negros' Position Paper by Benjie Casipe)

HARD FACTS:

Fact Number One: RA 9154, The Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park Act of 2001 Contradicts itself

Year 2001, the law establishing Mt. Kanlaon as Natural Park was a disgrace because it converted 169 hectares of protected "Natural Park" area into a buffer zone subject to geothermal exploration and exploitation. Definitions from RA 9154 and RA 7586 explain why RA 9154 contradicts its very purpose.

Biodiversity studies support the contention of environmental NGOs that the 169 hectares qualify as protected area and as part of the larger area comprising Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park. Extracting resources within the area is therefore strictly prohibited and the provisions of law that permit geothermal exploration and exploitation of the area are null and void.   

Fact Number Two: Mt. Kanlaon is a Watershed in Critical State:

Among the reasons Mt. Kanlaon is categorized as a Natural Park is it is an important watershed of Northern and Central Negros. It is the headwater catchment of three major river systems namely: Bago, Nahatin and Binalbagan, which supply irrigation water to about 158,500 hectares, approximately one fifth of the province's land area. The Bago Watershed alone has a total land area of 61,926 hectares located partly in Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park and partly in Northern Negros Natural Park. This watershed, protected under Presidential Proclamation no. 604 (1990),  is the lifeblood of the cities of Bago, San Carlos, and Talisay, and the towns of Caltrava, Don Salvador Benedicto and Murcia.

The remaining forest cover of Negros represents its dwindling life support systems. To ensure a continuous supply of both potable water and irrigation flow we need at least 30 to 40 % forest cover of the total land area of Negros. We cannot afford further destruction of our remaining watershed.

Fact Number Three: Shrinking Forest Cover

MT. KANLAON IS A PROTECTED AREA (One of the country's Top Ten Priority Sites for Conservation) . The island of Negros has a mere 4.77% (39,630 hectares) forest cover left based on 1989 Swedish Space Agency satellite data. Of the island's remaining 39,630 hectares of forestlands, only 14,800 hectares are considered primary growth forests. These strands of forest are distributed within the areas of the Northern Negros Natural Park (Mt. Silay & Mt. Mandalagan) and Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park. As the island falls far below the 40% forest cover needed to maintain a balanced ecosystem, there should be no compromising what remains of our forests.

24,557.6 hectares comprise MKNP's total area. About 9,000 hectares has natural forest cover (30% Primary old growth dipterocarp forest, 60% Mossy Forest and 10% Secondary forest), based on the ground survey conducted by the DENR MKNP personnel. 95% of the 169 buffer zone is considered old growth primary mixed lowland forest.

What remains of Mt. Kanlaon's natural forest cover is a classic example of a stable and dynamic tropical forest, which has evolved for hundreds and thousands of years through a natural forest succession process. It is our life support system that has served our basic needs and that of our ancestors since time immemorial. A natural forest like this CANNOT BE REPLACED AND/OR COMPENSATED through artificial means. ONCE destroyed, IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO REPLACE. Allowing the PNOC to enter within the MKNP will lead to the further depletion of our forest cover.

By the very definition of a buffer zone, the area is supposed to be a protective layer, special control of which avoids or minimizes harm to the protected areas. Instead, RA 9154, allows PNOC to enter the buffer zone for road clearing/construction and the development of well pads, destroying in the process, some 28 hectares of forest and more than 7,000 trees (In its latest negotiations PNOC-EDC reduced this figure to 12.5 ha. and about 4,000 trees). Not only has RA 9154 converted old growth protected forest area into a "buffer zone," the essence of a buffer has been distorted to make it the entry point for total clearing of vegetation and wildlife habitat. 

Fact Number Four: Alteration: It will never be the same again!

To provide access to drill sites, the PNOC has a habit of blasting mountain slopes to make way for six meter wide roads. The PNOC will surgically deform the mountain landscape to provide a stable ground for its geothermal plant. This in effect will erode the mountain slopes, silt waterways, and eventually clog up the drainage system of the highlands. Once the geothermal reservoir is depleted, land sinking could happen.

Fact Number Five: Pollution released to whom it my concern

Geothermal plant have been proven to release non-condensable gases during plant operations. Gases like hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and carbon dioxide with traces of mercury are toxic to humans, plants, and animals alike.

Fact Number Six: Biodiversity Threat, some species still with no names.

Since the MKNP contributes around 40-50% of the remaining natural forest for Negros Occidental, it is considered a critical area due to its High Biodiversity of floral and faunal species. The Maunsell biodiversity study commissioned by PNOC-EDC affirms the further need to protect and declare the buffer zone of MKNP from any form of destruction.

As the declared 169 hectares buffer zone is classified as lowland dipterocarp forest, this is probably the only remaining lowland forest in MKNP, most of the forested areas being confined to higher elevations. Numerous studies have affirmed the importance of these lowland forests in biodiversity conservation, vital watershed and other ecological services.

Maunsell's biodiversity study of the "buffer zone" found 69 species of flora which have not been identified to the species level. The very rare and important specie, Rafflesia Speciosa, classified as a species threated to extinction, and 124 species of fauna, 54  endemic in the Philippines and 8 found only in the Negros-Panay (geo-regions) were documented in the area. Majority of the flora and fauna are included in the red list for critically endangered, vulnerable and threatened species while some are listed by IUCN as globally threatened.

The high level of biodiversity and endemism in the 169 hectares buffer zone, the fact that it is a haven of biologically important resources and a shelter for threatened and endemic flora and fauna species, provides scientific basis for elevating the "buffer zone" set apart for geothermal development into a more restricted category such as the strict protection zone.

Fact Number Seven: We are selling our Patrimony and National Heritage

PNOC-EDC was privatized in December of 2007. Development and economic right  to a portion of MKNP is therefore already owned by a business corporation.

Fact Number Eight: Who Will Take the Blame?

Protected Area Management Board is responsible to protect Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park through the Park Superintendent Unit and with utmost support from all Government agencies and local authorities. The slimness of their budget reflects our commitment to protect MKNP. 

Fact Number Nine: Justice for the Trees, Justice for All

Based on the records of Task Force Ilahas, since 2002 twenty-one Negrenses have been caught cutting trees and 20 of them went to jail and one was released because he was underage at the time of the offense. PNOC-EDC has felled thousands of trees and leveled off hectares of forest land but its officers and personnel do not go to jail for this. There is a need to explain why we are preventing poor people from doing small time logging when a huge rich corporation is allowed to do so.

Fact Number Ten: Irreversible Damage can we afford it?

PNOC has already cleared 150 hectares of virgin forest and produces less than 8 MW of steam to show for it . A study by the American University in Washington DC revealed that the PNOC's geothermal project in Mt. Apo in Mindanao had a fatal impact on the breeding program of the already endangered Philippine Monkey Eating Eagle. In Mt. Kanlaon, PNOC's exploration and drilling outside the park has already defaced large areas of the biological landscape. Idle drilling pipes in Mambukal Resort are also an eyesore to tourists both local and foreign.

Fact Number Eleven: No Off Limit

RA 9154, gives PNOC exclusive rights to the 169 hectare buffer zone, according to Sec. 5, "an area for the exploration development and utilization of geothermal energy resources as well as other exploration activities." "Exploration and Development" has no limit but  PNOC's credibility is tainted with deception and lies. When RA 9154 was passed, PNOC-EDC assured oppositors and concerned groups that the company would not cut down trees in the buffer zone. PNOC-EDC engineers announced that in order not to disturb the forest cover, drilling would be from outside the buffer zone, going underneath the surface to reach the geothermal source. PNOC-EDC also promised the government, the church, environmental groups and community organizations that only 100 trees inside the 169 hectares would be cut down. This initial exploration being a failure, PNOC-EDC now promises that it will use only 28 hectares, later trimmed down to 12.5 hectares.  With the law giving it the mandate, what is to stop PNOC, once it begins, to  use the entire 169 hectares for exploration and development?

Fact Number Twelve: Increasing Disaster Events

Climate change is apparent. In Negros, flood events are more frequent and this is attributed to deforestations.  Drought is also more frequent in certain agricultural areas in Negros Occidental. As early as 1998, the Department of Agricultural reported that  livestock in Negros Occidental suffer heat strokes, pneumonia, stress, and dehydration.

According to the DOST Science and Technology POST, January-February 2008 issue, 7, 628 hectares of sugarland have been declared unfit for production, accounting for widespread hunger among among those dependent on these areas for their livelihood. Damage to crops in Negros Occidental was estimated at P99.7 million, and to livestock at P425,700. Therefore, the need for aggressive reforestation is obvious.

QUESTIONS

Without doubt, our children will be asking us many questions someday. Some simple questions are:

1. If in Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park extractive resources uses is not allowed, why is it that PNOC-EDC which alters the landscape, cuts trees, and extracts resources is allowed to do these? Doesn't the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park Act of 2001 contradict the very definition of Natural Park with the authorization it gives PNOC-EDC to operate in the area?
2. Are we giving up our watershed which is our very source of water? Are we allowing PNOC-EDC to explore, through cutting more trees, drilling underground in the aquifer, and causing who knows what toxic substances might surface and seep into the water system?
3. We have a shrinking forest cover. Aren't we supposed to reforest rather than deforest?
4. The Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park area has been identified as not materially altered by human activity and therefore subject to protection from destructive human activities. Aren't PNOC-EDC activities of building roads, cutting trees, building guard posts and the like, activities that alter and destroy the said area?
5. There are toxic substances that are released in the process of drilling and processing of the steam. Where are those going?
6. Are we willing to pay the price of the destruction of the critical wildlife habitat and important ecosystem, and further threatening of the already highly threatened species of global significance?
7. Since a portion of Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park is already owned, can we open Mt. Kanlaon for sale?
8. What does it take to make The Park Superintend Unit functional, effective and efficient in its protection and rehabilitation
work? Is there political will?
9. Kanlaon Green Brigade and Park Rangers air their question as quoted "how can the government expect us to implement the law against the small scale timber and wildlife poacher inside our park when it itself is sanctioning mass destruction inside the protected area?"
10. What if PNOC does not find sufficient geothermal source after it has destroyed the 12.5 hectares of  buffer zone? Is it going to give up the buffer zone of MKNP and explore for geothermal energy in other parts of the country? 
11. Are we willing pass on the consequences of our decision to our children?
12. It is obvious that we are experiencing more disaster events in the last five years and these are closely associated with our social, political, economic and environmental actions or lack of action. Are we willing to change to reduce the risk of becoming a disaster area?

The Way Forward: Preserving the Integrity of our National Heritage

We call on the Provincial Government to decisively act for the protection of Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park, ensuring no further exploration and development in the strictly protected zone or the proposed 169 hectares buffer zone. We urge the Provincial Goverment to lobby for the amendment of the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park Act of 2001 so as to reclaim the PNOC area. We call on the Philippine Congress to revisit and sharpen the law protecting Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park in the truest sense. We strongly urge the government to be consistent in its law and vigorously undertake reforestation of our critically endangered watershed areas and strongly push for the rehabilitation of Mt. Kanlaon and other forest reserves. We are resolved to use all our strength to protect our national heritage, Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park.


Benjie Casipe
Green Alert - Negros

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