Last March 09, 2018, the Makiling Center of Mountain Ecosystems (MCME) held Makiling Forum at the A.V. Manza Room, College of Forestry and Natural Resources. The theme was “Make It Makiling: Make It Makiling in the Making”. The forum was attended by the students, faculty and staff of the College of Forestry and Natural Resources (CFNR).
Forester Roberto P. Cereno served as the speaker for the event. He is the current director of the Training Center for Tropical Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability (TREES). For. Cereno talked about the history of Make It Makiling and how it started in 2002. The Make It Makiling event was a Lenten Season Visitor Management Program of MCME. It was headed by the MCME staff in partnership with various stakeholders surrounding Mount Makiling Forest Reserve ASEAN Heritage Park (MMFR AHP). The speaker showed the different activities during the Make It Makiling event and how the various stakeholders worked during the event. Furthermore, For. Cereno also shared his experiences in Eco-tourism and in Mount Makiling.
During the open forum, four (4) questions were asked to the speaker. First question was about the group size limit of hikers in MMFR. According to For. Cereno, the country doesn’t have national standard on group size limit of hikers, but the ideal is five (5) per group to consider the capacity of a tour guide. Second question was on hiring of tour guide by the municipalities surrounding MMFR. The speaker said that for now the municipalities have no request about training on tour guiding. Third, opinion on the community within or outside MMFR about ecotourism. For. Cereno said that in the case of MMFR the MCME involved members of the communities as local tour guides and partners during the implementation of Make it Makiling. Last, opinion at Baler’s case on high demand of wood as materials for constructing lodging houses. He said that there should be a regulation on the use of wood as materials in constructing lodging houses. Furthermore, he said that it is not necessary to cut trees in tourism.
The event was organized by the Social Forestry Division of MCME. It was attended by the members of the executive committee of the center: For. Nicasio M. Balahadia and For Leilani A. Castillo. The other MCME staff present in the event were: For. Myranel S. Canceran, Ms. Gillian Katherine L. Inciong, For. Leonardo D. Barua, For. Mae Belen L. Putian, For. Angela A. Limpiada and For. Valeriana D. Barredo-Parducho.
GKLInciong and MSCanceran
Photos credit to MSCanceran and MBLPutian