The preservation and protection of the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park hit a snag when the Office of the Protected Area Superintendent got a "zero budget", its chief Julie Rex Molavin said.

The MKNP PASU office, which is under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, supervises the preservation and protection of the Mt. Kanlaon Park.

The Kanlaon Park covers 24,557 hectares which comprises the upland areas of Bago, Murcia, La Carlota, La Castellana, Moises Padilla and San Carlos City in Negros Occidental, and Canlaon City, Oriental Negros.

In his memorandum to the director of the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau, a copy of which furnished to DAILY STAR, Molavin said they are facing difficulty in the mobilization of Kanlaon Green Brigade volunteers.

There is a pending moratorium on the deputation orders for local forest protection volunteers (KGB) and no utilization permit for the planted trees to MKNP occupants has been issued, Molavin said.

During its infancy stage, the MKNP PASU operations was funded by the World Bank, and the bulk of the funds was managed by a non-government organization, while the DENR provided a counterpart in terms of manpower.

"To mobilize our local KGB volunteers, we need deputation orders to authorize them to augment our limitations for forest protection and law enforcement," Molavin said.

But until now, he added, the policy is still on review, and while we are losing forest every now and then, we are barred from deputizing our KGBs.*GPB

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