All participants in the National Greening Program (NGP) must be ready to don their raincoats and plant tree seedlings as rains unload volumes of water in denuded land.
This bit of advice was aired by Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) through Assistant Secretary Marlo Mendoza yesterday.
Mendoza said everyone should take advantage of the the wet season by planting trees for the NGP.
“It is wrong to plant in summer. The trees planted will just wither and die,” he said.
“Besides, if we plant during the rainy season, we no longer need to water the plants since the rain will nourish them,” Mendoza added.
Earlier this month, 400 officials and employees from various government agencies led by the DENR took a 2-kilometer hike up the hills of the Ipo Dam watershed in Norzagaray, Bulacan to plant 2,000 seedlings.
DENR Secretary Ramon Paje stressed rains provide a high probability that the seedlings would survive and grow to maturity.
“Some plant trees during summer because it is convenient but the right thing to do is plant during the rainy season, from mid-June to August or September. During summer, we do not have the capacity to water all the plants,” Mendoza stressed.
Mendoza added that the DENR has been working with different government agencies, including the Department of Education.
According to him, the five million students have embarked on planting tree seedlings.
“The difference is now, it is no longer a one-day affair, the students no longer plant all the trees in one day,” Mendoza said.
“It depends on the climate of the province. As I’ve said it is bettter to plant during the wet season. The NGP is nationwide, and the climate of some provinces is not as flexible as the others,” he explained.
Mendoza stressed as of now, local government units have planted 17 million seedlings nationwide.
“It is a continuing endeavor,” he added.
The NGP has been in full swing since it was launched in May 13, 2011 in compliance with Executive Order No. 26.
The order declares the NGP as a priority government program and requires all officials and employees of the government, including government owned and controlled corporations, to plant at least 10 seedlings per year.
It also enjoins the private sector and other stakeholders to undertake parallel greening activities in consonance with NGP.
Throughout the country, there are eight million hectares of open, denuded and degraded lands in need of immediate rehabilitation. UPLB Project Advisory Group
