Aklan River
Local protected areas and other protected areas conservation techniques help to preserve natural ecosystems sustainably. A preserved area is clearly defined and recognized as a geographical area, committed to the long-term conservation of the related environmental services and cultural values by legal or other effective ways. Examples of protected places are national parks, wildlife areas, communal conservation areas, nature reserves, and the like. These are a key element in conserving biodiversity and helping people live, especially at the local level. Conservation of nature and services — food, clean water, medicines, and protection against natural disasters — are at the core of protected zones.
The province of Aklan is known for its tourist spot destinations, especially Boracay. A province blessed with such nature have quite a few of local protected areas. To name some, there is Bakhawan Eco-Park and Panay Peninsula Natural Park. In this blog, we are going to focus on one of the famous places in the province, the Aklan River.
The Aklan River is the longest river in the Philippines’ province of Aklan and the third-longest on Panay Island . It is the third largest drainage basin in Panay. The origin of the river is located on Mt. Baloy in the west section of Capiz, in the Central Panay Mountain Range in Tapaz. It runs north to the mountains west of Jamindan, then northeast to the town of Libacao in Aklan province. Before draining into the Sibuyan Sea, the river flows through the municipalities of Madalag, Malinao, Banga, Lezo, Numancia, and Kalibo. (National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, 2013).
The Aklan River Watershed Forest Reserve protects a section of the river’s basin. This reserve of 23,185 hectares (57,290 acres) in the districts of Madalag and Libacao was established in 1990 through Proclamation No.600, for purposes to protect, maintain, or improve the water yield and provide restraining mechanism for inappropriate forest exploitation and disruptive land-use (Proclamation No.600, 1990). It is Region 6’s No.4 priority watershed; it is part of Central Panay Mountain, a Key Diversity Area; and it is home to 92 species of fish, 19 species of crustaceans, and 15 species of mollusks (Villanueva, 2020).
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources shall administer and manage the reservation, in coordination with other agencies of the government, with the objective of maintaining its usefulness as a source of water for agriculture, domestic and industrial uses, and for other forestry purposes (Proclamation No.600, 1990).
Local communities of Aklan River, one of Aklan’s primary bodies of water, formed a contract committing to continually cooperate, invest their work, skill, and resources, and actively engage in rehabilitating and protecting this river that is presently deteriorating. The conference intended to help and reinforce Aklan River relevant parties in maintaining the areas resilient and sustainable, as well as to generate a governance body organizational design and a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between many local top managers for the suitable allocation and conservation of the river (Villanueva, 2020).
The river also supports plants, riverside wildlife, birds, and reptiles, with the greatest diversity found in its downstream part, which is located in Kalibo.
There is an awful lot we can do to sustain this kind of protected area. We should support marine protected areas, eat sustainable food, use fewer plastics, respect wildlife and habitats, reduce energy use, disposing of household and hazardous materials properly, and learn all you can about protected areas. Knowledge is power. If we know how to act, we can help our environment, and we can help ourselves. Learning the basic ways to sustain biodiversity should be the bare minimum. Always remember that when the environment suffers, we suffer.
Other Marine Protected Areas in Aklan:
References
Alcala, A., Bucol, A., & Nillos-Kleiven, P. (2008, January). Directory of Marine Reserves in the Visayas, Philippines. ResearchGate. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.1871.5924
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, 2013. “Aklan River: Philippines”. Bethesda, MD, USA: Geographic.org.
“Proclamation No.600, s. 1990”. www.gov.ph. Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines.
Villanueva, V. (2020, March 3). Aklan River. https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1035581
