The local government of Iriga City in partnership with the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) has done exceedingly well in environmental management programs.
Department of Environment and Natural Resources Bicol Regional Executive Director Joselin Marcus Fragada said the DENR is moving towards more environmentally empowered local government units (LGUs), and efforts have been taken to capacitate LGU officials to take a lead and pro-active role in the proper management of the environment and natural resources. In this regard, the Iriga LGU-DENR tandem is a standout model in environmental governance.
The City of Iriga is a typical showcase of an environmentally degraded area, with its people experiencing the adverse consequences of damaged ecosystems.
Iriga City is blessed with a beautiful mountain called Mt. Asog, the habitat of rare and endangered species of plants and animals, such as Rafflesia Irigaense, the smallest flowering variety of the Rafflesia family, the plant with the largest flower in the world. A flower of said species found in Sumatra, Indonesia has a width of 1.3 meter, while the variety found in Mt. Asog has flower that measures only 13 centimeters in diameter.
Mt. Asog is also the home of indigenous people Agta, the decendants of the first people to inhabit the Philippines, and its ancestor is linked to the Homo Erectus, the first standing human species that migrated to Southeast Asia from Africa, where human beings first began 3 to 4 million years ago. Hence, the Agta tribal community in Mt. Asog is a rare and precious living archeological relics. - PNA
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Topic: Iriga City: Model for Effective Environmental Governance (Read 814 times)