DAF actively participated in a two-day meeting of the MIBNP PAMB Technical Working Committee (TWC) on Indigenous Peoples (IP)
As a member of the Mounts Iglit-Baco Natural Park (MIBNP) Protected Area Management Board (PAMB), DAF enthusiastically participated in a two-day meeting of the board’s TWC. The meetings were chaired by Taobuid Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative (IPMR) Allan Lumawig of Calintaan. The first day of the meeting was held at Station 1, in Poypoy, Calintaan and was attended by, apart from DAF, the Taobuid leaders and representatives of the barangay government, Tamaraw Conservation Program (TCP), CENRO of San Jose, and the MIBNP Protected Area Superintendent. The following concerns were discussed in this meeting:
1. issues related to treatment of IP sacred and ritual sites and traditional practices within MIBNP’s strict protection zone,
2. expansion of the tamaraw safe zone that is contained in the Community Conservation Plan (CCP) of the Taobuid in MIBNP,
3. permitting system process for the cutting of fallen and planted trees for domestic use within ancestral domains that share areas with the protected area, and
4. implication to the approved infrastructure projects of barangay LGUs in IP and non-IP tenured migrants within PAs of the freeze order on the issuance of Environmental Compliance Certificates (ECC) on development projects within PAs.
The second day of the meeting was held at the Tamaraw Gene Pool Farm at Manoot, Rizal. This meeting was attended by representatives of the barangay government in the area, the Buhid community, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), MIBNP PAMO, TCP, CENR0 San Jose, and DAF. The meeting discussed the implications to the Buhids who serve as ranch caretakers who now own cattle of the implementation of the PA’s evacuation of all the cattle of the ranches in the area and what possible solutions can be proposed. The ranches in the area have expired permits and are therefore illegal.
The results of the discussions and recommendations arrived at during the meetings will be presented to the regular meeting of the MIBNP PAMB in May 2024.
The work of DAF in MIBNP is supported by Mandai Nature.
