Biodiversity conservation
gab held in Bacolod

United Nations Development Programme associate Grace Tena was in Bacolod City yesterday for the consultation and forum of the Northern Negros Natural Park and South Western Negros Key Biodiversity Area.

She said the fragmentation of habitats in protected areas is usually caused by agricultural activities, but cannot be removed from the system because it is the source of living of the people.

She said they are conducting project demonstrations that will support initiatives of the local government units to strengthen the campaign on protected areas. For Negros Occidental, it is the Northern Negros Natural Park, she said.

She also said they do not prevent farming communities from performing agricultural activities but they must also contribute to the biodiversity conservation.

Tena said the BPP is a five-year program that started in 2011 until 2016. They are now on the second year and they have conducted consultation and assessment on the suitable project demonstration for NNNP, she added.

She also said that the project is not location-specified as it will be replicated to seven other areas in the Philippines, adding that if the practice is effective, it will be supported by a policy at the national level for a sustainable implementation.

BPP managing director Joey Regunay also said they do not have to reinvent the biodiversity programs, rather, they have to work on the existing initiatives, expand them and replicate it.

The BPP will facilitate collaboration among national agencies aimed at biodiversity conservation that will promote socio-economic growth within and around the protected area, Regunay said.

The seven other protected and key biodiversity areas are in Cagayan de Oro, Quirino Province, Occidental Mindoro, Central Panay Mountains, Palawan, Davao Oriental, and the Lake Mainit between Agusan del Norte and Surigao del Norte.*LTG

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Australians to
teach at NOLITC

Two Australian teachers volunteered to teach at the Negros Occidental Language and Information Technology Center for a week as part of the Economic Diplomacy Program of Negros Occidental, with the Northern Territory in Australia, Ma. Cristina Orbecido, officer-in-charge of NOLITC, said yesterday.

Orbecido said Northern Territory Philippine Consul General Januario Rivas brought Tina Mills, an English teacher, and Joey Uddon, a Fil-Australian IT teacher, to Negros Occidental to teach Australian accent and phonetics.

Rivas said the program aims is to expose NOLITC students to Australian native speakers and English language to learn their culture and traditions. He added that this is the beginning of their volunteer work for NOLITC and that more teachers will be brought in from Australia.

Learning the Australian accent and phonetics will enhance the mastery of the students and understand the foreign clients they will encounter when they start work as call center agents, Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. said.

Orbecido also said they are thankful for the opportunity as this will help the trainees improve their communication skills and increase their chances of getting jobs.

Another project of the diplomacy program is the five-day trainers’ training at the Technology University of the Philippines in Talisay City, Negros Occidental, that will be conducted by David Brenton and Chris Haigh of Brenton Education Services. It aims to train qualified and competent instructors on automotive technology, electrical, refrigeration, air conditioning technology, machining and welding, and sponsored by the province, Orbecido added.*LTG

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