MANILA, Philippines — Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu is planning to replicate the recently completed German government-assisted forest and climate change protection project in Panay Island amounting to 5.95 million euros in other parts of the country.
In a statement before the weekend, Cimatu said the eight-year initiative dubbed “Forest and Climate Protection Panay Project (ForClim),” funded jointly by the governments of Germany and the Philippines, is worth replicating in other provinces, as it was found to have resulted in sustainable management of resources in areas surrounding the mountain range.
“ForClim has proved successful in integrating biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation and poverty alleviation through sustainable management of forest resources. With the right support from our partner organizations, hopefully we can bring this kind of success to other areas in the country in the near future,” Cimatu said.
Cimatu issued the statement after the implementation of ForClim’s second phase was completed this year.
ForClim II ran from June 2014 to February 2018, financed through a grant of 5.95 million euros from the German Ministry for the Environment, Natural Conservation and Nuclear Safety, with a local counterpart funding of 250,000 euros from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
The project covered the Panay Mountain Range and 23 adjacent municipalities. The first phase was implemented from 2010 to 2014.
Just like the first phase, ForClim II was implemented by German development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit or GIZ and DENR.
The DENR said ForClim resulted in reduced carbon emissions of 453,353 tons from 2011 to 2017, as the project was focused on the protection and rehabilitation of degraded forests.
The project had trained more than 813 people, hired 725 forest guards, and produced forest protection agreements covering 18,732 hectares, the DENR added.