Nature in Bignay Area

1.Forests, the home of natural lives.

2．Kingfishers, experts in fishing, show up near the Chico River every morning.

3．There are some water falls in the Bignay area. We found nests of el nido swallows near the water fall in this photo.

4．Carabao Lipa, a vine. The fruits have thin hairs which make you feel very itchy when you touch them.

5．In the river, you can see Million Fish. We can find various kinds of fish in the rivers and creeks.

People in Bignay Area

6．The entrance to the Bignay area. In the mountains in General Tinio where the Bignay area is located, the indigenous people were driven away from their ancestral lands and resources have been exploited. In 1998, Certificate of Ancestral Domain Claim was issued and 17,877 ha including Bignay was claimed as ancestral land of Dumagats, an indigenous tribe in the area. Residents of other tribes who had been living in the area prior to 1998 also have rights to stay there.

7．There exist various tribes such as Dumagat, Tagalog, Irocano and Visaya in the area. Mr. Darmacio Rivera is a migrant from the lowland. His family earn their living by growing crops such as watermelon and by charcoal making.

8．Ariel Rodrigues family is building a new house. They rent the land from a land owner who lives in the lowland. Land tenure of some portion of CADC area belongs to big land owners from the lowland who had obtained their land before the Ancestral Domain was established.

9．Rice is one of the staple foods in the Bignay area. Harvested rice is processed with a traditional pounder.

10、11．Mr. Jerowin Amado, the eldest son of Amado family, is playing his handmade guitar. He lost his father last year. He has been supporting his family by actively taking his roles in farming and house chores.

12．In the dry season, charcoal making is practiced in various locations, and a lot of trees are cut in the Bignay area. It is one of the serious causes of deforestation, since even young trees are used.

13． A villager is fishing in a river. Small fish called Biya and shrimps are important source of protein and income for the local people. However, Illegal fishermen frequently visit this area, and people are worried about over fishing. Illegal fishermen catch a lot of fish at a time using electric shock.

14．There are some people who try to make living by collecting gold. According to the man, he finds 1-2 grams of gold a week, and he earns 450 pesos (about 1,000 yen) per gram.

15．Every morning, We can find people washing their clothes and themselves in the rivers and creeks. These water sources are precious for their daily lives.

16．There still exist the virgin forests on the mountains about 20 km away from the Bignay area. Nueve Ecija province used to have rich forest resources, and the mountains were covered with Diptero carpus forests. However, massive logging after the second world war deforested the large area. There was no timber licence issued around Bignay, but timber companies somehow managed to strip the mountains.

17．Illegal logging is still going on. Since the passable road was built by the illegal loggers, logging has been getting worse. 3 to 5 trucks with timbers are observed a day during the dry season.

18．Majority of the illegal loggers are landless lowlanders. Some highlanders inculding indigenous people are also joining in logging. They are hired by sponsers who are connected with polititians in many cases, and cut trees for their survival. The boy in the photo is merely 16 years old, and he is engaged in illegal logging to support his family. Money he gets after working for whole month cutting and hauling wood is 6000 pesos (about 14,000 yen).

19．After massive logging, the mountains were burned many times, and most of them became grass land. The cause of the fire are over-grazing, hunting, open burning and fire-setting. These areas are now covered with cogon grass which can easily break into a spontaneous flame.

20．The mountains without forests are fragile. In recent years, flash floods occurred in every rainy season due to low water-holding capacity. Flash floods sweep houses and farm lands, and take a lot of lives. River bank erosion and siltation are also caused. The trees which are leaning towards the same direction show how strong the water current was.

21．In the dry season, forest plants and animals including human-being suffer from water shortage. Water volume of Rio Chico river during the dry season has been going down every year. The water level of the river where the photo was taken was deeper than 60 cm in January 2002. It was less than 20 cm in January 2003.

22．

People in the Bignay area have been longing for a school in the community. A space where people can learn about surrounding environment was also needed. The villagers and the project staff discussed, and decided to establish the Environment Education Center. Villagers themselves drew a design of the center.

23．Villagersﾕ design. The frame of the building is made of wood, the foundation is made of Concrete, and the walls are made of bamboo mats. Wood and bamboo are commonly used for house construction in rural areas in the Philippines.

24．This is the floor plan. The class room is furnished with chairs, tables, black board and flower pots. They decided to have a toilet, too. These designs were taken to a professional carpenter, and the final design was created.

25．On April 20, 2002, Environment Education Center construction kicked off! Some portion of construction materials such as sand, gravel and lumber were hauled by villagers themselves.

26．Ground breaking in the early morning on Sunday. Construction has started!

27．Foundation work of the classroom. Villagers themselves are constructing the building supervised by a local carpenter.Quite a few villagers are familiar with simple carpentry work, since they have experiences of building their own houses. DIY (Do It Yourself) is the basis for the life in Bignay!

28．Roof work. People choose to use iron sheets, since the raining season lasts for more than 8 months, and other materials such as grass will not last long.

29．Accommodation for a teacher was constructed beside the classroom.

30．Contribution of women was great! During the planning phase, women said that their roles were material transportation and cooking for construction workers. However, once the construction started, they actively participated in construction work, and played a lot of roles.

~Outlook of the Environmental Education Center ~

31．The front view of the Environment Education Center. The size of the building is 7m x 9m. Ornamental flowers planted in front added colors to the center.

32．Teacher's accommodation with a simple kitchen.

33．This is the very first toilet bowl in the Bignay area.

Environment and Literacy Classes

34．Currently, literacy and environment education is conducted at the Environment Education Center. Mr. Cabotaje, one of the field staff, is serving as a teacher. The classes include simple reading and writing, mathematics and discussion on surrounding nature. Visual aid such as posters and flash cards are often used during the classes.

35．The works of the children are displayed on a board in the class room.

36． It is ideal to have a local teacher in order to make the literacy and environment education programs sustainable. Ms. Quijano who has an experience of studying at a high school became an assistant teacher to gain experience in teaching.

37．Adult classes were also held. No regular text book was used, and people talked about local issues such as forest fire, illegal logging and illegal fishing.

38、39．Inauguration of the Environment Education Center was held on February 6, 2003. 43 families from the Bignay area, 3 field staff, Mr. Nasino (project director), Mr. Ballance (a researcher from Josai International University), and Ms. Hasegawa (Japanese coordinator) attended.

40．Nursery activities started in June 2002. Before that, villagers participated in the seminars on nursery shed establishment and management. Trees such as Mahogany, Acacia auri, Ipil-ipil, Narra and G-melina were grown and transplanted.

41．The nursery shed which was constructed in 2002 was transferred to beside the Environment Education Center. Now, children can work at the nursery shed everyday as a part of environment education. In March 2003, young seedlings of about 10,000 Narra were growing very well.

42．19,560 trees grown at the nursery shed was planted around the project participants' farms and the Environment Education Center. Multipurpose trees such as Narra, Mahogany, Ipil-ipil and Acacia and fruit trees such as Mango and Sugar apple were planted.

43．The Bignay area is located in the mountains, and the slope differs from 18 to 45 degrees. Gullies and land slides due to deforestation are observed in various places. There is no food security, and people are eager to learn how to produce more crops as well as to reforest. Agroforestry including SALT (Sloping Agriculture Land Technology) which enable people to have multiple and organic usages has been introduced. Mr. Rudin prepared the bench terraces using A frame.

44．Amado family is planning to plant multipurpose trees and fruit trees on the slopes near the rice terraces.

45．Abalos family opened a bitter gourd farm. Bitter gourd is often used in Filipino cooking, and it has medicinal value to heal diabetes. Mahogany, G-Melina and Mango are planted in the perimeter area.

46．Vegetative check dam made near a farm. Vegetative check dam is one of the methods to prevent soil erosion by setting a small soil trap using trees such as candle stick and bamboo.

47、48．A model farm was prepared around the Environment Education Center for the villagers to learn agroforestry technologies. After the bench terraces become stable, various technologies such as multistorey (multi-height for access to sunlight and efficient land use) cropping will be demonstrated. Some portion of the harvest will be used to provide children lunch at the center.

Water is Life...

49．Water shortage during the dry season is a serious problem in the Bignay area. A water pump was installed near the Environment Education Center to secure drinking and irrigation water. Villagers dug out soil, gravel, rocks and sand for 7 days, and finally, clean water came out.

50．Water from about 70 feet deep is crystal clean, cold and tasty...

Local People's Comments

･ I am happy that I am one of those who built the Environment Education Center. Our children will be able to learn reading and writing, and us also.

･ I am a student of the environment and literacy class. I am looking forward to the day I can read and write, and also count numbers.

･ I learned to interact with other people in better ways. I used to be shy, and now I can relate to others including government officials since I have confidence in myself.

･ There are big differences between the mountains being deforested and the one with good forests. Where the good forests are, we can find a lot of lives. However, illegal loggers and charcoal makers are targeting these forests, and I am really concerned.

Future Plans

Various activities will be carried out in Bignay for harmonious living of human and forests. In fiscal year 2003, activities such as environment and literacy education at the Environment Education Center, agroforestry promotion, and irrigation system building will be carried out. In the near future, we would like to invite lowlanders to the center, so that people on the mountain and the lowlanders can learn together about forest life and agroforestry. Villagers also have a vision of creating a mini-market and forming a cooperative in the Bignay area.

One of the key elements of the future plans will be to provide year around water for irrigation. Water shortage in the dry season is becoming more serious in the Bignay area. Securing water for drinking and irrigation is one of the major issues for the villagers. In February 2003, Mr. Nasino and Ms. Hasegawa visited the farms and the potential water sources in the Bignay area to plan irrigation system building with the villagers. We found that there was a broken and unused water tank built by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and decided to assist the villagers to repair it.