With this landlocked town celebrating its annual fiesta in honor of its patron saint, Mayor Norman Palacio in cooperation with the Sangguniang Bayan, took the opportunity to unveil an ambitious venture to maximize the allure of its famous man-made forest. While other towns are all agog with their ziplines and cable cars drawing unprecedented patronage from tourists, Bilar is joining the bandwagon using the beauty of the man-made forest, an attraction that placed the town in the world tourism map. According to Mayor Norman Palacio, plans are afoot to introduce the canopy walk utilizing the crown of the tall mahogany trees in a venture using ziplines and cable cars too. The only known canopy walk is found in a rainforest in the outskirts of Cagayan de Oro City and it is also drawing adventurous crowds.

Citing the man-made forest Bilar as the take off point, the plan was to use the Bilar wonder for a variety of tourism related activities as local officials roll out a blue print for the mulled Bilar Forest Tourism Park in the heart of the mahogany forest. According to Mayor Norman Palacio, the plan includes putting up of a board walk and canopy walk from the roadside rest-area towards the century-old nursery which will be transformed into the main hub of the tourism stop. Bilar, a town belonging to the Tagbilaran-Carmen tourism circuit is faintly known only because of its man-made forest located at its shared boundary with nearby Loboc town. While some tourist vans now stop at the sanctuary at Simply Butterflies, or take a brief stop at the town market for the rare “alupi” and “pintos,” many admit there is very little activity for tourists in Bilar. On this, staking its shared claim with Loboc on the forest which has awed most tourists who see the hardworking and environmentally conscious Boholano in every sturdy mahogany, the Bilar Forest Tourism Park was conceived as banking on the rare environmental awareness immersion for the stop.

Part of the development plan, said sources close to the mayor, includes setting up of rock-wall climbing and rappelling facilities at the park, one similar to the facilities at the nearby Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape. As to the funds which would fuel the move, Mayor Palacio revealed that Congressman Arthur Yap has appropriated some P2 million for the planned information center and restroom facilities to be put up at the stop. Moreover, the mayor showed the town annual investment plan for 2011 which showed P200,000 budget for the construction of a canopy walk and rappelling facility as one of the town's special projects. The investment plan would be funded out by the town's development fund which is equivalent to the 20% Internal Revenue Allotment share, he explained if only to prove that the funds are all in. The planned canopy and rappelling facility is set to be constructed before the end of the second quarter, according to the plan. “We are getting alarmed at the practice of tourists braving the traffic if only to have their pictures taken at the roadside stops,” the mayor pointed out. “Its pretty risky, and what we are putting up will secure our tourists and at the same time properly introduce them to the views of our forest ecosystem, Palacio said.