THERE is a place in Makilala, North Cotabato that is breathtaking, stimulating and mystical. It may be difficult to find and the travel may be a grind but a place they call New Israel is worth all the bustle.
In New Israel, visitors are welcomed by the gentle fresh air and the cool sight of the misty mountain but are greeted by a tribe of freely wandering monkeys living like they are part of the population.
Around a hundred Philippine long-tailed macaque can be seen around town and hundreds more live in the woods nearby. They don’t mingle because they don’t belong to the same tribe, said Noel Paraiso, one of the caretakers of this sanctuary.
Tourists can bring or buy at the nearby store bananas to be fed to the monkeys. Some monkeys are shy and distance themselves to people, some are too friendly and climb the backs of tourists, and some can be so naughty that they “borrow” your cellphones, cameras and almost anything that interests them.
Some even enter houses to look for food or just “monkey” around the kitchen.But the residents of New Israel don’t mind. They treat these monkeys as one of them and never harm these creatures of God.
This particular tribe in New Israel is led by a monkey called “Mike” who sometimes can be a real “bully” and take most of the bananas.
But if handing a banana to a monkey doesn’t thrill you, New Israel Eco-Tourism Park can offer you the ride of your life. Just take your pick: Horseback riding or a long zipline slide.
The aerial runway is1.3 kilometers long and could easily be the longest two and a half minutes of your life. Paraiso said at least four turkeys were killed as offering during the ziplines’ inauguration and blessing rites.
Before being the center of eco-tourism in Makilala, New Israel is a small community of peace-loving people belonging to the Iglesia ni Jehovah Moncado Alpha & Omega World Peace Crusaders Mission Inc.
The late Rev. Maximino Guibernas came to this bountiful land at the foot of Mt. Apo in 1939 and founded Iglesia ni Jehovah. He also named the place New Israel, in reference to Mindanao as The Land of Promise.
Deeper into the forest and higher into the mountain, Guibernas (whose tribal name is Apo Umpo Gumulang) also built a giant cross in a place he called Zion.
Today, Iglesia ni Jehovah has more than 5,000 followers all over the country, most of whom live in New Israel. New Israel, by the way, is one of the jump-off points of trekkers going to the peak of Mt. Apo.
It takes about two days of hiking to conquer the highest mountain in the Philippines (9,692 feet above sea level).
DENR releases ecotourism guidelines in protected areas
THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has released a set of guidelines for the planning and management of ecological tourism, or ecotourism, activities within the country’s protected areas.
Areas with ecotourism potential may refer to terrestrial, coastal or marine, caves, and wetland ecosystems. Environment Secretary Ramon Paje recently issued an administrative order to support conservation efforts and the sustainable use of natural resources in protected areas “with tremendous potential” for ecotourism development.
“The administrative order institutionalizes the entire process of developing ecotourism within our protected areas, applies its concepts and principles, and ensures equal participation and benefits among the community members and other stakeholders,” Paje said in a news release.
Protected areas, now numbering 240 nationwide, are defined as “portions of land and water set aside for their unique physical and biological significance, managed to enhance biodiversity and protected against destructive human exploitation” under the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act.
Paje said other laws such as the Tourism Act and the Magna Carta for Women were considered in the crafting of the guidelines to ensure that activities within protected areas would be consistent with ecotourism principles.
“Ecotourism activities properly planned and managed would promote and guarantee the conservation and sustainable use of all biodiversity found within.
It would provide business opportunities for the local community; involve women, children, indigenous peoples and the informal sector in all undertakings; and promote responsible tourism,” he said.
The order covers the various phases in the ecotourism planning and management process, including site assessment that will determine whether ecotourism management is the right strategy for a particular protected area.
The data will be used by the Protected Area Superintendent in preparing the corresponding Ecotourism Management Plan to involve stakeholders, including the local government unit, the community, people’s organizations and other government agencies.
The EMP shall consist of five components: zoning to determine how visitors can use certain areas of the park; visitor site planning to limit the impact of visitors on the natural environment; sustainable infrastructure design to harmonize facilities with ecological processes and natural beauty; visitor management to consider flow and behavior of visitors, as well as support the site’s “carrying capacity”; and revenue generation, including determination of applicable fees.
Cagayan de Oro River under protection
ENVIRONMENT officials have begun to keep tabs on the water quality of the Cagayan de Oro River, a popular site for white-water rafters, kayak enthusiasts and river trekkers.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has designated the river basin located in Northern Mindanao as a “water quality management area” or WQMA to monitor and take action against activities that might compromise its water quality.
Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said the Cagayan de Oro River basin was “by far the largest WQMA designation in terms of the vast distances to be placed under a single WQMA.”
To date, the agency has designated 17 water quality management areas pursuant to the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004.
“The inclusion of the Cagayan de Oro River and its tributaries on the WQMA list mirrors the government’s high degree of commitment to push sound environmental policies as a pre-requisite to inclusive and sustainable growth,” Paje said in a news release.
The designation of water quality management areas is one of the strategies identified under the Clean Water Act to “improve the water quality of water bodies through focused interventions or actions that are designed to address specific water quality issues of the areas.”
In a recent administrative order, Paje underscored the need to make the 202,400-hectare river basin “a sustaining resource for the people of the city and municipalities of Cagayan de Oro, Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon.”
“This is consistent with our objectives recognizing that water quality management issues are inherently related and cannot be detached from concerns on water sources, ecological protection, water supply, public health of quality of life,” Paje said.
The Cagayan de Oro River basin and its adjacent rivers span at least 219 kilometers, straddling Cagayan de Oro City and the towns of Opol and Tagoloan in Misamis Oriental, and the towns of Talakag, Baungon, Libona and Manolo Fortich in Bukidnon.
Also included in the WQMA are the rivers of Cagayan, Iponan, Umalag, Bigaan, Agusan, Cugman, as well as the coastal area of Macalajar Bay, including its adjacent land and tributaries.
Cagayan de Oro River is famous for white-water rafting, kayaking and river trekking. The city government and the Department of Tourism recently made white-water rafting in the river Northern Mindanao’s banner tourism activity.