Bulag, pipi at bingi naman kapag rehabilitation ng mined-out sites sa Marinduque ang usapan.
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| Part of Marcopper's mined-out area. Google Earth. |
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is set to develop mined-out areas into eco-tourism zones that would help rehabilitate the mining sites and provide livelihood to affected communities.
Environment Secretary Gina Lopez said they are now looking at areas that have big potential for becoming eco-tourism sites, consulting with community members on the transition.
“In fact, we already identified 13 towns in Dinagat and Surigao that can be developed as such. We call this ‘mine sites revegetation’,” Lopez said during a discussion with The STAR editors and reporters yesterday.
DENR Undersecretary Philip Camara said the area would be treated as one eco-tourism site, just like what is being done in Palawan, which has many tourist destinations.
He said it is more beneficial to divert the sites’ orientation because eco-tourism gives better quality jobs.
This way, he added, 95 percent of the income will go to the affected communities as opposed to the mining business where the bulk of profits goes to investors.
Aside from community discussions, the department is now consulting scientists on what can be harvested from a rainforest.
“Rehabilitation or re-vegetation stimulates a green economy. For every 100 hectares, it will create 1,000 livelihoods. For example, we can have agriculture wastes converted into biochar as one form of livelihood,” Camara said. - Full story on Philstar
Other Marcopper mine sites.
