GUIMARAS – Watersheds must be protected “for the present and future generations,” according to Environment regional director Jim O Sampulna.
“Watersheds should be protected against human or natural exploitation. Protecting our watersheds means protecting the health and well-being of everyone,” he stressed.
More than 60 percent of the country’s land area is classified as watersheds. This means that there are about 21-million hectares of catchment areas in the Philippines.
These include 142 critical watersheds – 11 of which are found in Western Visayas.
In connection to this, the DENR Region 6 through the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) recently held a symposium on watershed conservation in Barangay Buluagan, Jordan town.
The symposium targeted the youth sector.
A watershed is a land area drained by a stream or fixed body of water whose tributaries have a common outlet for surface run-off.
It serves to capture, store and recharge groundwater, filter out water pollutants, and safely release precipitation or rainwater as to prevent floods during episodes of heavy downpour.
If watersheds are not protected against free grazing, forest fire, timber poaching, unregulated extraction of raw materials and minor forest products, inappropriate upland farming practices, severe erosion that resulted to sedimentation and siltation of rivers, and wildlife poaching, they become “critical.”
A critical watershed is a drainage area of a river system supporting existing and proposed hydroelectric power, irrigation works or existing water facilities that needs immediate protection and rehabilitation to minimize erosion and improve water yield.
Forester Leonora Magno, chief of PENRO’s Conservation and Development Section, was the resource speaker during the symposium.
Magno discussed the programs and thrusts of the DENR, the state of watersheds in the country, and the characteristics of watersheds and their importance.
Barangay Buluangan was a fitting venue because it is the main source of domestic water supplied to consumers in Barangay San Miguel, Jordan. (With DENR Region 6/PN)
