Some of the trees at the Kantipla protected area in Brgy. Tabunan, Cebu City. | Photo from KEEP Foundation Inc.
LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu – KEEP Foundation Inc. is seeking to renew a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that it signed with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for its stewardship of a 504-hectare protected area in Sitio Kantipla in the mountain barangay of Tabunan in Cebu City.
Under the MOA, KEEP (Kantipla Ecosystem Enhancement and Protection) Foundation is tasked to protect, preserve, and conduct reforestation activities there.
In addition, retired Police General Tiburcio Fusilero, the foundation’s president, also brought to the attention of the DENR the sale of parcels of land at the protected area and the construction of illegal structures there, which could result in the contamination of the watershed.
READ: Cebu City planners call for stricter building rules in protected areas
All these were contained in a letter that Fusilero wrote Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loysaga on May 16, 2024.
Stewardship
The 504-hectare protected area that is under KEEP’s stewardship is part of the Cebu Protected Landscape. The foundation’s stewardship of the land is valid for 20 years that will end on November 15, 2025.
READ: Cebu lost 10,000 hectares of tree cover in the past 20 years
Fusilero said that their application for the renewal of the MOA has the endorsement of the Biodiversity Management Bureau and the Forest Management Bureau.
In their absence, Fusilero expressed fear that the practice of “kaingin” or the illegal cutting and burning of trees together with the illegal sale of land in the area would proliferate.
READ: LIST: Tree cover loss in Cebu per area
Flourishing forest
Meanwhile, Fusilero said that KEEP Foundation is advocating for a flourishing forest.
Under its watch, they planted around 380, 000 trees, including indigenous and fruit-bearing trees at the Kantipla protected area.
Moreover, they also get to save wild life by providing them with a healthy ecosystem, Fusilero said.