ARMM cites success in anti-illegal logging drive

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Only 4,400 board feet of illegal lumber have been seized this year by environment personnel of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), officials reported over the weekend.

The figure is more than 90 percent lower than the volume of smuggled forest products confiscated in the region from 2011 to 2012.

The local office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) had seized 118,266 board feet of timber from poachers from 2011 to 2012.

ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman said the figure indicated that the agency’s campaign against illegal logging is successful.

“We thank the personnel of the DENR-ARMM for addressing the illegal logging in the region,” Hataman said on Saturday.

He cited DENR’s success in protecting the region’s watersheds in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, and in Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi when he delivered his State of the Region Address in Cotabato City last Monday.

Hataman said there has been a 92 percent reduction in the volume of illegal forest products seized this year compared into previous years.

Kahal Kedtag, regional secretary of DENR-ARMM, attributed their success to non-government organizations and cause-oriented groups that are helping them monitor illegal logging activities in the region.

Kedtag and Hataman said the military and the ARMM police have also been supportive of the region’s anti-illegal logging campaign.