Published on: April 28, 2023
By Marcelo Pedalino
SAINT BERNARD, Southern Leyte (PIA) -- The local government unit here has entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) along with two other entities to push for a sea-based project that doubles as a way of preserving the marine environment in the area.
Mayor Edito Mulig of Saint Bernard signed the MOA on behalf of the municipality, while Emily Litsinger, assistant vice president for Asia Pacific of the international NGO, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), and Fervina Avorque, provincial director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), likewise affixed their signatures to the document.
The signing ceremony was held Tuesday, April 25, at the town’s ABC hall and was witnessed by other local government officials and personnel from both BFAR and EDF, including the Fisheries in-charge of the provincial agriculture office, Ruel Natividad.
Subject of the signed MOA was the development and cultivation of a mussel culture project off the seawaters of barangay Lipanto, whose materials and seeds were financed by EDF, for a period of two years, it was learned.
Aside from the aspect on purely food security, the project included the propagation of sargassum, a sea grass with potentials to sequester carbon dioxide, hence the project was also labeled as regenerative aquaculture adapted to the local ecosystem, Jimely Flores, an EDF scientist, explained.
In talks before the actual MOA signing, BFAR provincial director Avorque vowed to help in monitoring, implementation, and replication of the project to other willing LGUs, while EDF’s Litsinger looked forward to keeping the three-party partnership.
Mayor Mulig, in his message, committed protection of the aquaculture resources, saying the program can help the people of Saint Bernard as he intended its rollout to more coastal barangays of the town. (LDL/MMP/PIA Southern Leyte)
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