The municipality of Sta. Cruz will join the first Inter-LGU Mt. Apo Clean Up Drive slated on June 9-13, 2014 along with other local governments that have an open trail to Mt. Apo such as Digos City and Bansalan of Davao del Sur, Davao City and Kidapawan, Makilala and Magpet of North Cotabato province.
Sta. Cruz LGU will be cleaning up the portions of the Sibulan trail being its jurisdiction, which includes Tinikaran Campsites, boulders and the summit. All LGU teams are expected to converge at the summit of Mt. Apo on June 11 and organizers are bent on making this an annual event to start the campaign on “zero basura”. Part of the objectives of this is to make a strong message to the mountaineering community to climb mountains responsibly so that Mt. Apo will be free from trashes especially after climbing seasons during summer and semester breaks.
It is expected that the clean-up will unload 1 ton of garbage from Mt. Apo which have been traditionally collected independently by the LGUs concerned after holy week; to establish and support a sense of solidarity and cooperation by all LGU as spearheaded by the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) Eco-Tourism Committee and to produce an 8-10 minute video documentary highlighting the trails in Mt. Apo Natural Park, the clean-up drive and the inter-LGU cooperation and collaboration that shall serve as information material for the public and potential MANP ecotourists that leaving garbage along the trails and campsites is a serious problem.
It is also during this activity that an initial set of indicators for monitoring of the trekking trails will be crafted that will complement the overall biodiversity and land cover assessment.
The 1st inter-LGU Mt. Apo Natural Park Clean Up Drive will be supported by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources B+WISER Program.