– Project set in tandem with 200-megawatt coal-fired project
A company owned by the Alcantara family launched Saturday what may be considered as Mindanao’s biggest carbon sink – a 7,500-hectare agro-forestry project in connection with the firm’s establishment of a modern coal-fired power plant in the province of Sarangani.
Sarangani governor Miguel Dominguez and Maasim town mayor Aniceto Lopez Jr. led in the formal launching of the agro-forestry project with the inauguration of a tree nursery at barangay Kamanga, Maasim.
Conal Holdings Corporation put up the project to serve as a carbon sink for the 200-megawatt coal-fired power plant which is seen as a ready and cheap alternative to address a foreseen shortfall in power supply in the next five years.
Dominguez told residents who attended the project launching that the power plant will not only make electricity affordable but will also open more opportunities for investments that will be beneficial to the province and its residents.
The carbon sink agro-forestry project is in compliance with environmental regulations, particularly the environmental clearance certificate issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Gregorio Gonzales Jr., Conal project manager, said the project will effectively offset any emission of the 200-megawatt power plant to a level way below the allowable limit.
Speaking before local residents during the formal launching of the project, Lopez said the Maasim municipal government has committed into a balanced approach in economic development, “We will take care of our people but we will also make sure that we will not degrade our resources.”
Aside from serving as a carbon sink, the agro-forestry project is seen to benefit upland farmers along the areas covered by the project.
The project will involve the planting of commercial agro-forestry crops like coffee, rubber, mango and other suitable crops that will help sustain better income to upland farmers.
Gonzales said the project will help improve biodiversity, trigger upstream and downstream economic activity, provide additional revenue to the local government and serve as watershed.
He explained that since the carbon sink project will utilize public lands, it will be implemented in accordance to the 2004 Maasim Forest Land Use Plan (MFLUP) which prescribes the tenure issuance and management of forest land in Maasim.
MFLUP was formulated and adopted by the local government of Maasim, DENR and the Department of Interior and Local Governments.
Earlier, Joseph C. Nocos, vice president for business development of Alto Power Management Corporation, a member of the Alcantara Group, earlier told Davao-based media practitioners the firm is talking to two groups interested to buy carbon credits.
“One is a Nordic company – Nordic Environment Finance Corporation based in the Scandinavian countries. This company acts like the buying agent of the countries of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark for carbon credits. Since the Nordic countries are signatories to the Kyoto Protocol, they are obligated to reduce their carbon emissions every year. Those who cannot meet the required carbon reduction rates can do it by buying carbon credits from countries like the Philippines who have not yet exceeded the carbon emission limit, Nocos explained.
The other group interested to buy carbon credits from Conals’ carbon sink project is Invesa Carbono, a Spaniosh company, Nocos bared.
He said there is a big market for the Philippines’ carbon credits, among them the United States,which contributes 20 to 25 percent of the world’s carbon emission.
“What we are really trying to develop in Sarangani in tandem with our coal-fired power project is a carbon sink program, which if successful, can very well serve as the model for other types of carbon credit initiatives,” Nocos said.
