• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Negros Occidental provincial government has restored about 22 hectares of degraded forest in the North Negros Natural Park (NNNP) through its community-based reforestation and watershed conservation program.
Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II, who recently visited Sitio Tambara in Barangay San Fernando, Talisay City, said the SafeWater Team, composed of job and project order workers and community members, were the ones implementing the province’s reforestation efforts while serving as Lawin forest patrollers.
Diaz said the team has been protecting the remaining old-growth forests of the NNNP for more than two years while rehabilitating damaged areas through the planting of native trees and bamboo across the 110-hectare area under its management.
Of the total area, about 22 hectares have been restored with native tree species and bamboo, improving forest cover, increasing carbon stocks, strengthening watershed functions, and enhancing biodiversity and ecosystem resilience.
Diaz said that regular forest patrols and monitoring by local communities have helped deter illegal activities in the Tambara site, including the early detection and prevention of attempts to build illegal structures inside a strict protected area and near a waterfall.
He reported that the provincial government has planted 1,306 native trees and 4,812 giant bamboo seedlings as part of its forest restoration initiatives.
It also established six nurseries that have produced 25,916 seedlings for distribution and tree-growing activities.
The Tambara Project, one of the provincial government’s flagship environmental programs, combines watershed conservation with community-based initiatives such as reforestation of watershed recharge areas, agroforestry, bamboo development, and forest protection.
Diaz said the program also provides skills training, promotes forest-based livelihoods, and encourages shared responsibility among local communities, with the provincial government saying the approach demonstrates that conservation and sustainable livelihoods can go hand in hand in building a more resilient Negros Occidental.
He stressed that the Tambara Project reflects the provincial government’s continuing commitment to protecting the province’s forests and watershed areas while expanding reforestation efforts in other priority sites. | GPB
