CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga (PIA) -- A total of 35 people’s organizations (POs) in Nueva Ecija will now manage over 14,000 hectares of site development areas established under the Forestland Management Project (FMP).

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Japan International Cooperation Agency turned over the supervision after the POs played a major role in the implementation of the FMP.

DENR Regional Executive Director Ralph Pablo said their role would be more integral in the continued protection, conservation, and development of agroforestry and reforestation areas, especially with the conclusion of the 10-year project.

“Our partner people’s organizations have been crucial in the greening of the more than 44,000-hectare Pantabangan-Carranglan Watershed Forest Reserve. This turnover is a way of showing our appreciation for their reforestation efforts,” Pablo pressed.

Partner POs would also benefit from the various agroforestry facilities established under the FMP including bridges, access roads, water impounding systems, and irrigation pipelines.

Started in 2012, the FMP is a reforestation project that aims to rehabilitate the Pantabangan-Carranglan Watershed, one of the biggest protected areas in Central Luzon, through collaborative and comprehensive community-based forest management strategies.

FMP also integrates conservation and development-oriented activities with participation and capacity-building of local communities to rehabilitate degraded forestlands in three critical river basins, including Upper Magat and Cagayan in Cagayan Valley, Upper Pampanga in Central Luzon, and Jalaur in Iloilo. (MJSC/CLJD-PIA 3)