CABUCGAYAN, Biliran – The mayor of this town is encouraging its constituents, including the other municipalities, to plant trees in denuded areas so as to help prevent future landslides or floodings when heavy rains occur due to typhoons.
Town Mayor Edwin Masbang, in an interview, said that reforestation must be undertaken in particular in hilly or mountainous areas which are prone to landslides.
The suggestion of Masbang came in the wake of several landslide incidents that hit Biliran after tropical storm ‘Urduja’ struck the province on December 16 last year which killed 52 people, many still missing.
In his town, landslides occurred in the villages of Lo-ok and Balaquid though no one was hurt as the incidents happened far from where the houses are located.
Cabugcayan has a seven-hectare rain forest demonstration farm funded by the Yale University based in the United States and Visayas State University, based in Baybay City.
The model farm, which was started last October 2017, will serve as a show window for rainforest reforestation in the province, Masbang added.
Masbang disclosed that his town has also an ongoing agro-forestry reforestation project with the DENR 8 under its National Greening Program.
Carlito Tuballa, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-8) assistant regional director for technical services, said that their office is providing assistance to Cabucgayan of its efforts to rehabilitate and preserve its environment. (RESTITUTO A. CAYUBIT)
