The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) recently paved two local roads to improve access to the tourist destinations of Saint Bernard in Southern Leyte.
One of the completed road improvement projects involves the P9.6-million tourism road leading to Southern Leyte Bird Sanctuary and Mangrove Area.
Roughly a kilometer stretch of uneven and sandy road was turned into a two-lane concrete road with width of 6.10 meters.
The Bird Sanctuary has been identified by DENR as one of the bird sites where migratory birds have been documented such as Philippine Duck, Little Egret, Greenshark, and Purple Heron.
Southern Leyte’s Bird Sanctuary has been identified by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as one of the bird sites in Eastern Visayas where the presence of diverse and various species of migratory birds has been documented such as Philippine Duck, Little Egret, Greenshark, and Purple Heron among others.
Another completed project is the P9.8-million access road leading to Guinsaugon Lake – one of the most popular destinations among mountaineers in Eastern Visayas. The project covers the concreting of 0.667-lane kilometers of a gravel road.
Both projects were implemented by the DPWH Southern-Leyte District Engineering Office (DPWH-SLDEO).
According to DPWH Secretary Roger Mercado, the tourism road projects were identified and implemented in convergence with the Department of Tourism, in an effort to encourage more tourists to less developed areas.
“The newly paved roads will make it easier for the DENR and local government units to visit the bird sanctuary in an effort to preserve the migratory birds’ natural habitat.”
“The newly paved roads are expected to not only bring more tourists in the area, but also to make it easier for the DENR and local government units to visit the bird sanctuary in an effort to preserve the migratory birds’ natural habitats,” Mercado said.
The construction of tourism access roads is part of President Rodrigo Duterte’s zero to 10-point economic strategy, which aims to promote rural and value chain development in order to boost agricultural and rural enterprise productivity as well as rural tourism.
