The Watershed Management Council (WMC) here has strengthened the campaign on watershed management in communities.

WMC secretariat member Karmela Tongo underscored the importance of villagers’ role in protecting watersheds, especially through the Barangay Watershed Management Council, and in ensuring clean water sources.

“We targeted the barangays for information education campaign (IEC) those within conservation areas,” she said in a statement

Tongo said that last week, they conducted their fourth IEC in Barangay Inayangan, Calinan District, focusing on Ordinance No. 0310-07 or the city Watershed Code.

During the IEC, barangay functionaries and tribal leaders of the Bagobo Klata tribe were lectured on the importance of watersheds and the risks of neglecting them.

Under the Critical Watershed Zone based on the City Land Use Plan 2019-2028, the allowable land uses are reforestation and non-permanent early warning facilities or structures.

In a Critical Watershed Zone, building density and bulk regulations prohibit permanent structures such as buildings.

Development applications in the area must be validated by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Protected Area Management Board (DENR-PAMB) regulations and should be by the co-management agreement or memorandum of agreement.

The ordinance also provides that any development introduced in the area must have a favorable endorsement from the Watershed Management Code Council.

“There are still villages that are not aware of the creation of Barangay Watershed Management Council within their community as mandated by the Watershed Code and that they have critical watershed areas,” Tongo said. (PNA)