ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE. A villager beams as she works with seedlings at one of the nurseries owned by Cagdianao Mining Corporation in Barangay Valencia, Cagdianao town in Dinagat Islands province. The company regularly taps community residents in its rehabilitation and reforestation works within its mine site. (Photo courtesy of Nathalie Radaza)
BUTUAN CITY – Mining companies operating in Caraga Region have complied with the provisions of the Mining Forest Program (MFP) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
This was bared by the DENR's Mines and Geosciences Bureau in Caraga Region (MGB-13) in a press statement on Monday (Sept. 7, 2020).
“The Caraga mining firms’ unwavering implementation of the Mining Forest Program is a testament to their compliance with all existing environmental laws and policies, rehabilitation efforts for the preservation of the Caraga forest cover, and commitment to the enrichment of human life in the form of livelihood opportunities for their stakeholders,” MGB-13 said.
In 2019, MGB-13 said mining companies in the region planted a total of 1,435,442 seedlings and reforested more than 751.96 hectares of mined-out areas, buffer zones, mangroves, and other applicable planting sites.
The reforestation efforts, the agency said, were implemented by the companies in accordance with the provisions of the DENR Administrative Order (DAO) No. 22, series of 1989.
“The MFP, originally the Adopt-A-Tree Adopt-A-Mining Forest Program, was initiated in 1989 and requires the establishment of mining forests within mined-out areas, waste dumps, denuded and sparsely vegetated lands and areas adopted by the mining firms through a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA),” the statement said.
12 billion seedlings
MGB-13 noted that from 1990 until December last year, 29 mining firms in the region have already planted more than 12 billion seedlings of indigenous and exotic species, including mangrove propagules in an area of 8,269 hectares.
“The average reforestation survival rate for 2019 is 92 percent which is above the Philippine national standard of 80 percent,” the statement said.
Nurseries were also developed by mining companies in Caraga that propagate seedlings and wildlings considered as endemic to the areas where they operate.
“Pursuant to Executive Order No. 399, series of 1997, the exemplary practices and commitments of firms involved in underground and surface mining operation, quarry operation, mineral exploration, and mineral processing which contribute to sustainable mineral development and responsible management of the environment and natural resources are recognized through the Presidential Mineral Industry Environmental Award (PMIEA) given at the Annual National Mine Safety and Environment Conference (ANMSEC),” the MGB-13 said.
It added that the MFP program of the DENR recognizes mining, mineral processing, and mineral exploration firms in their reforestation programs within and outside the mining tenement.
MGB-13 also reported that three mining firms from Caraga Region are recipients of the PMIEA for Best Mining Forest Program during the 66th ANMSEC in November last year.
The awardees include the Surigao del Norte-based Hinatuan Mining Corporation and Agata Mining Ventures, Inc. in Agusan del Norte for the metallic category, the Agusan del Sur-based Mindanao Mineral Processing and Refining Corporation for the mineral processing category, as well as the Cagdianao Mining Corporation for the surface mining category.
Pursuant to Executive Order No. 399 issued in 1997, the annual PMIEA event recognizes the exemplary practices and commitments of mining firms which all contribute towards sustainable mineral development by promoting responsible management of the environment and natural resources. (PNA)
