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[av_heading heading=’ Forest land occupants to transfer in new site ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY BOY RYAN ZABAL
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BORACAY – Timberland occupants in the island will be moved to a relocation site in Barangay Kabulihan, Malay, Aklan.
The transfer will decongest the forests, said Aklan Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) chief Ivene Reyes.
Last month, Environment secretary Roy Cimatu ordered an inventory of forest lands in the island and the people living on them.
It was found that about 1,000 were occupying the 377-hectare forest land area of the island’s 1,032-hectare total land area, a PENRO report showed.
The forest land must be a “protected area,” said Cimatu citing former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Proclamation No. 1064 in 2006 classifying the island’s 400 hectares as reserved forest land.
The same proclamation classified the island’s 628.95 hectares as agricultural land.
Reyes said the remaining forest land must be “conserved” to protect the wildlife and the biodiversity in the island.
“Nahihirapan na ang isla to accommodate more developments, tourists and the locals. There are occupants na ginagawang boarding houses, apartments, at iba pang mga paupahan ang mga timberlands,” Reyes claimed.
The PENRO chief also urged the Municipal Assessor’s Office to cancel the tax delcarations issued to timberland occupants. (Aklan Forum Journal/PN)
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