The Special Agreement in Protected Areas (SAPA) has been another contentious issue facing the Northern Negros Natural Park in Negros Occidental, recently. This protected area instrument for land and other resource uses is not actually new, but its implementation was suspended several years ago because of numerous concerns as to its main purpose and who are supposedly the main beneficiaries of this 25-year agreement with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
The suspension of the SAPA was later lifted, and DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu issued Administrative Order 2018-05 providing an addendum to DAO 2007-17, which is the original guideline for special uses in protected areas.
Last week, mainstream and online media platforms based in Bacolod City came out with reports claiming that the proponent of the road development in Sitio Campuestuhan, Barangay Cabatangan in Talisay City, that is still within the NNNP, had availed of a SAPA duly approved by the Protected Area Management Board during its meeting in December last year. However, Community Environment and Natural Resources Officer of Bago City, and at the same the NNNP protected area superintendent, Joan Nathaniel Gerangaya, asserted that the PAMB-endorsed SAPA did not include any road development.
The said road project became public when some environmentalists took and circulated on social media the photos of the ongoing road clearing that drew various reactions from local officials and the public. Talisay Mayor Neil Lizares ordered the immediate cessation of the road clearing, while Gerangaya claimed that his office would conduct an investigation if it also involved cutting of trees.
The controversy pertaining to the SAPA is not only isolated in Campuestuhan, but the same is true at a portion of the NNNP in Silay City and municipality of Salvador Benedicto where several vacation houses, resorts, and other recreational facilities are already available. Many of these existing amenities have no permits from the PAMB and DENR, and have been operational for quite sometime.
A number of other non-settlers in the protected area are also interested in availing of the SAPA and once granted and awarded may result to numerous issues that are detrimental to the status of the NNNP as a protected area. The cool climate and beautiful landscape of the NNNP triggered the development of recreational and tourism facilities in the site. Some scenic spots of the NNNP are now easily accessible with the improvement and construction of road networks leading to these areas.
One of the original intentions of the SAPA is the reduction of poverty incidence by providing access and economic opportunities to indigenous people, tenured migrants, and other stakeholders of protected areas. Such objective implies that the awarding of SAPA should provide benefits and common good for communities, and not for personal interest and purpose, like private vacation houses.
The SAPA is similarly aimed to optimize the special uses of protected areas consistent with the principles of sustainable development and biodiversity conservation. It means activities covered by the SAPA will not negatively affect the conservation values of protected areas, while providing opportunities for sustainable and wise use of land and other natural resources. I believe, any activity that will disrupt or impair the natural conditions and biodiversity of protected areas, like NNNP, should not be allowed in awarding the SAPA.
The two other objectives of the SAPA are the provision of guidance in the development of appropriate zones and revenue generation for sustainability of the management of protected areas. Under the existing guidelines, two management zones have been identified for protected areas, and these are the strict protection zone and multiple-use zone. The SAPA can only be implemented within the multiple-use zone and may include activities related to ecotourism, aquaculture, agroforestry, and forest plantation.
In addition, scientific monitoring stations, such as the PAGASA and PHILVOCS monitoring sites, and facilities for public services, like communications, transmission lines, irrigation canals and waterways, and rights-of-way may also be covered by the SAPA. These projects should have Environmental Clearance Certificates and subject to the approval of the DENR Secretary. The PAMB is only a recommendatory body for the approval of the SAPA, although it may recommend additional terms and conditions in the awarding of the agreement by the DENR Secretary. Logically, the proponent or applicant of the SAPA should not pursue any activity, as provided for in the accompanying project proposal of the application, without final consent from the DENR Secretary.
Applicants for the SAPA may include indigenous people, tenured migrants, local governments, national government agencies, and other stakeholders. The PAMB is mandated to develop its own specific set of criteria in the selection of applicants for the SAPA, but preferential option shall be accorded to tenured migrants and IPs. Tenured migrants are those members of communities who are actually occupying the protected area for a certain period of time and solely dependent on it for livelihood and income. They may also apply for a Protected Area Community Based Resource Management Agreement with the PAMB and DENR to legitimize their occupancy in the protected area.
So as to generate funds for the management of the protected area, the DENR shall impose a development fee in the awarding of the SAPA. This fee should be based on the fixed percentage of the zonal value of the property or land and any development equivalent to five percent of the recent zonal value of the commercial area in the nearest barangay or municipality where the proposed SAPA is located. The computation shall be multiplied by the size of the area for development and one percent of the value of improvement. Prior to any development in the area covered by the SAPA the proponent should pay the corresponding development fee.*