The local government of San Carlos, through its City Environment Management Office and the Tourism Office, is dedicated to sustaining preservation and awareness efforts in its bid to continuously safeguard the Northern Negros Natural Park (NNNP).
San Carlos will host the 19th anniversary celebration of the NNNP as a protected area in Northern Negros from August 11-15.
CENRO I, Engr. Loreto Sanchez, said that it is important to protect the NNNP and the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park due to their unique biodiversity and sensitive ecosystems.
Sanchez said that, together with the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB), activities regarding NNNP focused on raising awareness and engaging the community in conserving the park’s flora and fauna, ensuring the preservation of its vital ecosystems and heritage to protect these areas from illegal activities that don’t align with the NNNP management plan.
These areas are home to rare and endangered species, like the Bleeding-Heart Pigeon and other endemic wildlife, underscoring the need for their conservation, the city said in a press release July 30.
Conservation efforts, supported by local communities, LGUs, and other sectors, such as the San Carlos Development Board and the City Environment Management Office (CEMO), focus on reforestation and protecting heritage sites, including native trees and threatened species.
Alongside other local government units within the NNNP, San Carlos advocates for the conservation of the park’s 70,000 hectares, with 22,000 hectares as strict protection zones and 50,000 hectares tagged as multiple-use zones.
The 19th NNNP celebration, meanwhile, will bring together the LGUs surrounding the protected area, including the cities of San Carlos, Talisay, Silay, Cadiz, Victorias, and Sagay, and municipalities of E.B. Magalona, Toboso, Calatrava, Don Salvador Benedicto, and Murcia.
The celebration marks the anniversary of the declaration of the NNNP as a protected area, through Presidential Proclamation No. 895 dated Aug. 15, 2005, issued by then president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, under the NIPAS Act of 1992, as amended by the ENIPAS Act of 2018.
San Carlos City tourism operations officer Jennifer Paran said the inaugural celebration took place in 2022 in Barangay Gawahon, Victorias City.
She said the festivities aim to strengthen camaraderie among member-LGUs, highlight the park’s natural wonders, and showcase its diverse flora and fauna.
The event also serves to appreciate the ecotourism resources within the park that contribute to its protection, Paran added.
Activities lined up for the celebration include a simultaneous tree planting, cleanup drives, a mountain trail run to showcase the park’s natural beauty, a trade fair exhibit, and Bantay Bukid Brigade contests, among others.
The NNNP, spanning 70,826.16 hectares of land crisscrossing the territories of the 11 LGUs, stands as a vital protected area in Negros Occidental, preserving the province’s natural beauty and biodiversity for generations to come, the city said. ||
