South Cotabato seeks 5-year mining moratorium
By Allen V. Estabillo, MindaNews.com
January 17, 2012

 GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/16 January) – Worried over a repeat of last month’s devastating floods in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities, South Cotabato officials are pushing for a five-year moratorium on all mining activities in critical mountain areas within the province.

Board member Ernesto Catedral, chair of the provincial board’s committee on environment, said his committee is studying the stoppage of all small- and large-scale mining-related operations in the next five years to complement the ongoing reforestation initiatives in the area.

He said the move will facilitate the restoration of the province’s dwindling forest cover, which was reportedly down to just around 25 percent.

“The forest covers of the mountains surrounding Cagayan de Oro and Iligan were estimated at 35 to 40 percent when they were hit by (storm) Sendong. So just imagine what might happen to us in the event another typhoon with the same intensity would hit our area,” Catedral said in a radio interview.

Along with the proposed mining moratorium, Catedral said they will push for the implementation of massive tree planting or reforestation activities within the province’s critical forests.

“In five years, I think we can be assured that the trees we planted have grown enough to survive for a long time,” he said.

When mining activities are stopped, the official said the cutting of trees in forests surrounding several mining areas in the province would also cease.
He specifically cited the ongoing clearing of some mountain areas in the municipalities of Tampakan, T’boli and Lake Sebu, where the small and large-scale mining activities in the province are mainly concentrated.

Foreign-backed Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI) is currently exploring the mountains of Tampakan town, which reportedly hosts Southeast Asia’s largest underdeveloped copper and gold deposits, for its planned large-scale mining project.

Read full article @ www.mindanews.com