AN ETHNOBOTANICAL learning facility is expected to rise in New Clark City to help capacitate Aeta communities in Pampanga and Tarlac, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said.
In a statement on Thursday, the BCDA said it signed memoranda of agreement with the Department of Agriculture (DA) Regional Field Office III and the Pampanga State Agricultural University for the establishment of a 10-hectare ethnobotanical learning facility.
Under the agreement, BCDA will allocate a 10-hectare piece of land in New Clark City for the Ayta Ethno Botanical Center, while the university will manage, supervise, and monitor the learning facility’s activities.
Meanwhile, the DA Regional Field Office allocated P4.8 million for a training project in the enrichment of the agriculture, food, and non-food-based indigenous practices of the Aetas at Ayta Ethno Botanical Center.
“The Ayta Ethno Botanical Center is envisioned to become a model for food forests — a system in which edible, harvestable crops are produced in a multi-story setting — which can be replicated around the green areas of New Clark City,” BCDA said.
“The presence of an ethnobotanical learning facility in New Clark City also provides BCDA an opportunity to develop adjoining protected and forest reserve areas into an ecotourism spot,” it added.
It also said that it has been coordinating with firms from the government and the private sector to assist in the planning and implementation of the appropriate projects to be implemented within the 10-hectare area. — Justine Irish D. Tabile