By Jazmin Bonifacio
PARANAS, Samar, April 24 (PNA) — The Samar provincial government has vowed to sustain ecotourism program in this town in a bid to protect the remaining forest resources and reward local residents for helping curb illegal logging.
“It is an idea that has massive appeal as those with money can now visit places with good conscience. They can see wonderful things and feel at the same time that their money is helping the local environment and provide income to the locals,” said Samar Gov. Sharee Ann Tan.
“If the people can generate revenue from showing tourists around the jungle, and for bringing tourists to the Ulot River to experience extreme boat ride, it is way better than logging,” she added.
Tenani village, the site of Ulot River’s extreme boat ride, is about 60 kilometers from Catbalogan City, the provincial capital or approximately 100 kilometers north from Tacloban City, the regional capital.
The unique 21-kilometer stretch of Torpedo boat extreme ride along the rapids of Ulot River is within the 455,700- hectare Samar Island Natural Park (SINP), the biggest natural park in the country.
The SINP covers 333,330 hectares of land and a buffer zone of 125,400 hectares of primary forest and a large, contiguous tract of secondary forest in good ecological condition. It boasts of many caves, various wildlife species and river systems such as the navigable Ulot River.
Long before roads became the main transportation route, Ulot River served as nautical highways for trading products and transporting people from and to Samar and Eastern Samar.
Tour guide Adrian Igdalino, a member of the Torpedo Boat Ride Association, said that the arrival of tourists in Ulot has transformed their livelihood activities.
In the past, locals earned their living through destructive activities such as illegal logging, charcoal making, wild animals hunting and timber poaching.
Igdalino recalled that they only earned PhP3,000 monthly from logging, less than the PhP4,000 monthly income from tour guiding.
Igdalino is just one of the hundreds of villagers engaged in ecotourism activity. The local association in Ulot Watershed is now offering services for tourists, such as tour guiding, boat services, catering and food production, among others.
Among the services and the most popular is the Ulot River Torpedo extreme boat riding launched in 2010. It is a two-hour and 15-minute ride in a boat that has no outriggers, going downstream and upstream.
The group now has 21 pump boats. Each boat has a rental fee of PhP1,825 for every five tourists. Of the amount, PhP250 goes to the tour guide. The remainder is for the entrance fee, safety gear fee, and pump boat owner. The local government also gets a share of the revenue.
Boatmen and river guides were trained by the government on how to deal with tourists and ensure their safety during the tour, but their skills in boating was acquired from hauling illegally-cut logs. (PNA)