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The prohibition of harvesting or cutting of mangroves in the country, including Bohol, is still in full force, said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) here.

The national government has also frozen the issuance and renewal of any logging and tree cutting by virtue of Executive Order No. 23 by President Benigni Aquino III on Wednesday of last week. Executive Order No. 23 declares a “moratorium on the cutting and harvesting of timber in natural and residual forests nationwide,” reports said.

President Aquino’s issuance of the executive order is in response to calls from different NGOs and religious groups because of latest spate of floodings that have raised alarm on the population, properties and farmlands allegedly due to llegal logging activities.

The ban on mangrove harvest has raised the howl of some stakeholders in some mangrove areas, including those man-made, DENR said. It added that the man-made mangrove forest in Banacon island, the said to be the largest in Asia is included in the prohibition.

DENR said that it is under fire for some stakeholders because of the ban. Some holders of the community-based forest management agreement and license have criticized the move (ban) since it is their livelihood they largely depend on.

DENR said that the angry license holders question the ban because it was the government thru the DENR who encouraged them to plant and grow these mangroves and then allowed them to harvest for livelihood. Bakhaw cuts trade is said to be lucrative because they command high prices and selling like hot cakes in nearby island like Cebu for firewood and other uses.

Since the enforcement of the ban on mangrove cutting, including the harvesting of nipa, DENR said, illegal activities related to it have been observed. These illegal activities have found their way on the youtube.

On the moratorium of logging nationwide, DENR said that Bohol is not likely affected since it has no logging industry. But still rampant cutting of endemic trees and other species used for firewoods in the province still persists.

DENR is tasked to be the lead agency in the newly-created Anti-Illegal Logging Task Force, said the report. It also is tasked to review all existing logging agreements and immediately cancel those that have violated forest laws; strictly implement forest certification system in keeping with UN standards; close and disallow sawmills and other wood processing plants that are unable to present proof of sustainable sources of legally cut logs for a period of at least 5 years.

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