Flexible but unbreakable like the bamboo.

Burdeos Integrated Agroforest and Marine Protection for Economic Development (BIAMPED)

BIAMPED is an P11.07-million project envisioned to bring about a sustainable bamboo production hub on a 500-hectare raw land in Barangay Poblacion, Burdeos town in Quezon province. Local authorities classified the area as a watershed, a watershed that will protect the community from the ravages of strong typhoons caused by the worst effects of climate change.

BACKGROUND

Burdeos is a fourth-class island municipality within the Polillo Group of Islands in the Pacific Ocean off northeast of the main Polillo Island. Although rich in natural resources, nearly half of its over 24,600 inhabitants live below the poverty line.

The scientific research called “The Borgen Project” traces mass poverty in the Philippines to seven major factors: rural stagnation, natural disasters, malnutrition, food insecurities, politics, cultural inequities, and poor planning.

Weak or inefficient enforcement of pertinent laws have ostensibly resulted in the socio- economic stagnation of Burdeos, exacerbated by poor stewardship and the lack of interactive type of planning for development-oriented projects.

Denudation of forest lands have become palpable in the lives of the local villagers. Low food production, lack of market opportunities for farm products, unemployment, and other social ills run high in the affected areas.

STRATEGIES

It is in this context that local stakeholders and like-minded citizens, in cooperation with concerned local government officials put together the BIAMPED.

The Corporation was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 23, 2019. The organizers of BIAMPED eventually requested the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to make their company part of the agency’s Enhanced National Greening Program (ENGP).

The CENRO of Real, Quezon subsequently conducted site Inspection and mapping operations. An application for ENGP accreditation is now pending with the Office of the DENR regional office in Lucena City. ENGP, by the way, constitutes a powerful paradigm arising from failed governance of forest lands.

The State and stakeholders however, now view the forests differently.

They now look at it as an unlimited source of economic opportunities through cooperation and collaboration as envisioned by the ENGP.

Thus, the LGU of Quezon has already given BIAMPED all the necessary permits. Likewise, local residents have organized themselves and are now very eager to implement the program.

MISSION AND VISION

BIAMPED is an ambitious, multi-track endeavor that primarily aims to bring about a highly viable enterprise on a largely unexplored sub-section of the country’s agricultural sector, while at the same time providing a sustainable and decent source of livelihood for the residents of Burdeos.

Secondarily, the convenors and partners of BIAMPED want to help the government address the persistent challenges of forest denudation and other forms of environmental destruction through large scale propagation of bamboo which has been scientifically proven to be an effective agent of top soil preservation.

Thirdly, BIAMPED will transform an erstwhile idle and unproductive raw land into a sustainable commercial enterprise without doing further damage to the ecosystem.

Lastly, BIAMPED wants to make a difference in the lives of the people of Burdeos.

The stiffest tree may easily crack amidst the storm, but the pliant bamboo that bows and dances with the wind will survive.