COOPERATION IN WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT

As I understand it, the DENR has jurisdiction over mangrove trees, and not the DA. That is probably due to their understanding that mangroves do not produce fruits and are therefore not part of food security targets. It therefore goes without saying that all trees that do not produce fruits or do not have edible portions are also not part of food security. If that is the case, then both the DENR and the DA would need to come up with a database that will show which is which. Just to be clear, wildlife could mean both flora and fauna and, in that sense, mangrove trees are generally part of wildlife, although there are already mangrove forests that are artificially or commercially planted. Although mangrove trees do not directly produce food, these trees are the reason why more fish, crabs and shrimps are harvested where they grow. My purpose in writing this is to encourage all concerned national government agencies (NGAs) and LGUs to work together more and coordinate more in protecting our wildlife, especially when there are overlaps in jurisdictions and whenever it is not clear who does what. Rather than allow gray areas in jurisdictions to cause confusion as to who does what, I suggest that the LGUs should take the lead, with the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) of the DENR and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) of the DA providing the supports, possibly with the assistance of the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) under DA. IKE SENERES/02-02-24