ENVIRONMENT SECTION PROFILE
Forest and Forestlands and Biodiversity
Irosin has 1,802.67 hectares of forest and forestlands which accounts for 11.93 % of the total land area. Of these forestlands, 62.8 % are protected areas of the BVNP while the remaining are found in five separate blocks of land in upland areas of barangays Cawayan, Tabon-tabon and Liang. The BVNP encompasses the municipalities of Bulusan, Irosin, Juban, Casiguran and Barcelona where substantial area of montane forest around the peak and lowland forest on the slopes remains. Other BVNP habitats include secondary grasslands, freshwater lakes and pools, rural gardens, abandoned farmlands and disturbed grounds. The park supports the needs of nearby communities through its forest products, watershed, recreational values and the lower slopes are utilized as agricultural lands. All other FFLs of Irosin are open access with no existing tenurial instrument. The Cawayan and Tabon-tabon blocks are with significant forest cover interspersed with coconut crop. Meanwhile, FFL blocks located in Liang are presently utilized for agriculture and planted with coconut and other annual crops.
Anecdotal accounts during FLUP workshops recorded the presence of the Philippine Long-tailed Macaque (Macaca fascicularis philippensis), the Philippine Brown Deer (Cervus mariannus), and the Philippine Warty Pig (Sus philippensis) in forest areas of Mt. Maraot Banwa and the lower slopes of Bulusan Volcano. The BVNP forest is a host to diverse flora and fauna. Mammals that have been recorded include the Philippine Brown Deer, Philippine Warty Pig and the threatened Southern Luzon Giant Cloud Rat (Phloemys cumingi). Endemic herpetofauna recorded in the BVNP include the Rough-backed Forest Frog (Platymantis corrugatus), Common Forest Frog (Platymantis dorsalis), Yellow-striped Slender Tree Skink (Lipinia pulchella), Jagor’s Sphenomorphus (Sphenomorphus jagori) and the threatened Sailfin Water Lizard (Hydrosaurus pustulatus). Many of the threatened and restricted-range species of the Luzon Endemic Bird Area have been recorded on or near to the BVNP, and the relatively extensive forest which remain there are likely to support important population of some of these species.
Solid Waste Management
Based on the Waste Analysis and Characterization Study (WACS) conducted on December 2017, the estimated quantity of waste disposed of by the municipality is about 19,654 kilograms per day. From these estimates, the waste generation rate per capita is about 0.335 kilogram per day. The top five major waste generators are households, institutions, market, food establishments and general stores. From the total waste generated, about 46.16% is biodegradable, 29.74% recyclables, 23.25% residuals, and 0 .84% special wastes. Given these, the LGU can potentially achieve 76% waste diversion through composting of biodegradable waste and through recycling. Including the residuals with potential for diversion (14.59%) using alternative technology, the LGU can achieve a maximum of 90% waste diversion.
Municipal solid waste management program provides collection and disposal services to five urban and three rural barangays which is serviced by three dump trucks with daily collection schedules. The existing solid waste facility of the municipality is in Patag with an area of 2 hectares and has temporary containment facility and waste processing machines.
The observed conditions for the environment management sector are:
- Majority of solid waste are not segregated by waste generators
- Majority of waste collected are not segregated
- 16 % of solid waste are biodegradable and only a fraction are composted
- 74% of solid waste are recyclables/ reusables and only a fraction are recovered
- Absence of sanitary landfill for disposal of residual waste
- Increasing presence of solid waste and pollutants in rivers
- Increasing loss of forest cover, at 15% of land area in 2018
- Decreasing wildlife population
- Increasing LGU energy consumption
- Zero renewable energy generation capacity