How are pigs helping with sustainability? Haribon and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Region 1 have a partnership with a local organization in Mangatarem, Pangasinan to do just that. This collaboration has provided forest-dependent families another alternative to forest extraction: pigs!
A NAGMACAPAK member with her two swines that she won during the training.
by Juan Valdez, Site Action
March 2014
In December, a training was held in Mangatarem, Pangasinan to teach members of Nagkakaisang Mamamayan ng Catarataraan sa Pangangalaga ng Kalikasan (NAGMACAPAK), the proper caring and management of swine and cattle in preparation for the establishment and implementation of Swine Dispersal and Fattening.
The training was facilitated by the Municipal Agriculture Office headed by Ms. Lux dela Cruz, together with her staff. Topics ranged from backyard raising, shelter, housing and type of housing, health and nutrition, breeds of swine, selections of guilt, breeding and types of breeding, breeding nutrition, farrowing management, care of new born, udder infection, pigs activities, diseases and causes of diseases for Swine Dispersal. For the Ruminant Management, backyard raising, anatomy and digestive system, selecting feeder stock, breeds of cattle, reproductive anatomy, system of breeding, types of mating, Sign of pregnancy, branding, castration, management of forages, common diseases and causes were discussed.
NAGMACAPAK is a people’s organization situated in Barangay Catarataraan, Mangatarem, Pangasinan a local community organization, assisted by Haribon Foundation. Forty six members of the PO group were present during the training. Since members lack basic information on proper caring and management of the swine dispersal and fattening project, Haribon Foundation decided to conduct the training with help of the Municipal Agriculture office.
A Municipal Agriculture Officer explains the common diseases of swines.
Haribon Foundation and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Region 1 had a partnership agreement where Haribon tapped NAGMACAPAK to support the organizational activities and livelihood projects of the government’s National Greening Program (NGP), and to ensure the organization’s involvement in conservation and protection of the forests, which is part of Haribon’s strategy.
The participants learned from the training proper caring and management of swines that may be applied during the project implementation. Part of the training was a writeshop on swine project policy led by a Haribon site staff.
A week after the training, policies on the swine project have been passed and approved. The organization implemented the swine fattening projects starting with 20 heads of piglets, which were then raffled off to 10 lucky members of NAGMACAPAK. Based on the policy, the organization shall shoulder all the expenses until procurement. This project aims to increase the added income received by members from the existing livelihood activities in order to sustain the zero resource extraction activity in the community even beyond the Haribon and DENR interventions.
The NAGMACAPAK members have generated novel data to contribute towards proper caring and management of swine, an alternative to extraction activities from forest dependent families; all for the protection and conservation of biodiversity and the people.
