NCIP to formulate eco-tourism and livelihood programs for cultural minorities

BALANGA CITY, Bataan – The Office of the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) is opting for the formulation of a comprehensive eco-tourism and sustainable livelihood development plan to improve the quality of life of some 3,000 cultural minorities in the historic peninsula.

Ronie P. Caanawan, NCIP provincial officer in Bataan, has lengthily discussed the scheme with two (2) indigenous people mandatory representatives in the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) of Limay and Bagac towns about the proposal which requires exhaustive feasibility studies as principal inputs for the creation of agro-forestry program and enterprising eco-tourism agenda.

Caanawan, himself belonging to Ilongot tribe from Northern Luzon and a forestry graduate of Benguet State University, explained the productive utilization of the 53,350 hectares of ancestral domain would provide stable income for the upland residents and foster environmental protection.

The provincial NCIP office has projected the building of environmental and cultural awareness as a top eco-tourism forest site in Central Luzon would give visitors, both local and foreign, incredible transformative experiences allowing them to develop closer personal relationship to the nature, wildlife and local Aeta tribal people encounter during their forest adventure.

Caanawan also clarified eco-tourism is essentially all about  bringing nature, wildlife conservationists, local communities  and responsible travel industry together to ensure development focused on long term sustainability of safeguarding  and conserving  rich natural forest.

He said the cultural minorities should be provided with livelihood training skills on highly-demanding exportable handicraft products made from bamboo, rattan, hardwood  and other  cottage industries being one of the biggest sources of livelihood for the indigenous people in the province.