CABANATUAN CITY — Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Japan International Cooperation Agency has completed the road extension project in Carranglan, Nueva Ecija.
Located in barangay Bunga-Dilaing Bato, it is expected to improve the productivity of agroforestry farms and livelihood of upland farmers.
DENR Regional Executive Director Paquito Moreno said the more than one-kilometer road extension will not only provide communities better accessibility and mobility to goods and services, but also help partner people’s organizations in protecting the 4,914-hectare reforested area of the Seguim Subwatershed.
“As an agroforestry support facility of our Forestland Management Project (FMP) in Pantabangan-Carranglan Watershed, this project is seen as supplementary to the local government’s efforts to provide social services, boost the local economy and guarantee food security,” he said.
Other recently completed access roads include those in Sitio Sinipit-Sitio Pamalyan in barangay Conversion, Pantabangan and Dilaing Bato-Calo-Mambeja in barangay R. A. Padilla in Carranglan which both connect farm areas to market towns.
“Apart from facilitating a greener path for our farmers and our environment, we want to help communities improve their vehicular and pedestrian mobility that lessen potential damage and transportation cost of agricultural products,” Moreno furthered.
Launched in 2012, FMP is a 10-year reforestation project that aims to rehabilitate the Pantabangan-Carranglan Watershed which is one of the biggest protected areas in Central Luzon, and to strengthen forestland management through the implementation of a collaborative community-based forest management strategy.
It integrates conservation and development-oriented activities with participation and capacity-building of local communities to rehabilitate degraded forestlands in three critical river basins, including Upper Magat and Cagayan in Region 2, Upper Pampanga in Region 3, and Jalaur in Iloilo.
COURSE: Carlo Lorenzo J. Datu (PIA3)
