TACLOBAN CITY – A government-led floriculture project in an upland village of Borongan City is expected to add color to the Hebacong Sea of Clouds Nature Park, a popular nature destination while creating another source of income for a community group of former rebels who are now forest rangers.
About 90% of the 8,000 ilang-ilang and sampaguita cuttings prepared under the project are ready for outplanting in a designated area in Barangay Hebacong, according to Alvin Angelo Salting, senior science research specialist and project leader of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau Agroforestry Research, Development and Extension Center (DENR-ERDB-ARDEC).
Salting reported the development during a meeting with Borongan City Mayor Jose Ivan Dayan Agda.
The planting is part of the DENR-ERDB-ARDEC’s Integrated Floriculture and Apiculture Project, which involves members of the Borongan Integrated Floriculture and Apiculture Farmers’ Association (BIAFFA).
The association was formerly composed of forest rangers in the city and is now engaged in beekeeping, producing honey from stingless bees.
Through the floriculture component, BIAFFA members will expand their livelihood activities by cultivating flowering and ornamental plants.
The project also aims to provide livelihood opportunities and technical knowledge to former rebels who have transitioned into forest rangers while supporting the development of the Hebacong Sea of Clouds and Nature Park as an ecotourism destination.
The ilang-ilang and sampaguita plants are expected to enhance the landscape of the area and provide association members with another potential source of income.
Agda thanked the DENR-ERDB-ARDEC team for its assistance to the community and stressed the need for sustained coordination between the agency and the city government to maintain the project.
The city government and DENR will continue working with BIAFFA to sustain the floriculture and apiculture initiative in Hebacong.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
