By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Four cities and two municipalities in Negros Island started celebrating yesterday the declaration of Mount Kanlaon as a protected natural park.

The three-day celebration “marks the passage of the law declaring it (Mount Kanlaon) as a national park,” said park superintendent Dennis Miñosa.

“We also want to showcase the biodiversity of the area through ecotourism,” Miñosa added.

The natural park covers the cities of La Carlota, Bago and San Carlos and the towns of Murcia and La Castellana in Negros Occidental and Canlaon City in Negros Oriental.

Miñosa hopes that the celebration will “connect the people to the forest.”

With 15 villages surrounding the foot of Mount Kanlaon, Miñosa said “expansion cannot be stopped.”

He was referring to facilities that the villages need.

“Local governments need to put up structures like barangay halls, health centers and schools to deliver basic services,” Miñosa stressed.

But these must be regulated under the policies that the Protected Area Management Board imposes, he added.

“We are always studying the forest’s carrying capacity to ensure that it is not overexploited,”  Miñosa said. “Our office put up controls and policies to regulate the park’s use.”/DGB, WDJ