BILAR. – The famed mono-crop man-made forest situated at Bilar and Loboc towns should not be electrically lighted, Provincial Environment and Natural Resources officer (Penro) Nestor Canda told the audience of the Consultative Forum presided over by Gov. Edgar Chatto at JJs Seafood Restaurant last week. The warning was probably the first publicly uttered by the DENR before the audience of municipal officials, non-government, private and business sectors as well as national government agencies. But that is not the only nuisance the environment agency is confronting. There’s also the “now-you-see-now-you-don’t” vending of souvenir items at the heart of the forest for tourists and motorists alike luring to buy the goods, aside from being already hard-to-resist attraction the man-made forest brings that no other place offers.

The proposal to provide lighting in the man-made forest stemmed from alleged clamor from motorists traversing here that earlier prompted the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to consider. Canda cited findings of experts that lighting the forest will disturb the wildlife. The man-made forest should not be lighted since this will distort the wildlife pattern. The possibility that such situation would also forced the wildlife to run away from the man-made since they’re disrupted. Aside from this, Canda said, lighting the forest attract picnickers and this will complicate. And if there are picnics, the forest is very vulnerable to wildfire in case of neglect on their part, Canda pointed out. And solid wastes or other waste from picnickers will ruin or pollute the area, he said. He said that such plan or proposal of lighting the forest’s crisscrossing highway has been scrutinized by the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB), composed of the DENR, LGU concerned where the area is located. And PAMB turned it down, he said.

The stretch of national highway in this man-made forest has been, and still is attracting passers-by and motorists and do stop-overs for picture taking. Meanwhile, Canda announced during the forum that the agency’s greening program still is going on and every individual is urged to plant at last 10 tree seedlings a year pursuant to Executive Order No. 23 issued by P-Noy. It is pushing for planting 6,200 hectares target every year as part of reforestation to achieve one billion trees planted before P-Noy steps down in 2016. Gov. Chatto also reminded the local government officials to take part of this endeavor and to allot a parcel of land for pocket forest every municipality as part of the reforestation project. (RVO)