Officials and employees of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Quezon City will plant today (August 13) a total of 9,000 narra seedlings on a denuded forestland at the foot of Mount Samat in Bagac, Bataan.
DENR Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje said the activity in Bagac is second in a series of tree planting activities lined up by the department for its employees pursuant to Executive Order No. 26 directing the implementation of a National Greening Program.
Prior to this, a different group of DENR officials and employees planted some 2,000 seedlings of narra and kupang at the Ipo watershed in Brgy. San Mateo in Norzagaray, Bulacan. They were joined in the green exercise by representatives from other government agencies such as the Departments of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, the Metropolitan Waterways and Sewerage System and its concessionaires Manila Water and Maynilad, the Philippine Army and the local government unit of Norzagaray.
Paje stressed that under the NGP, planting sites and species of tree seedlings are chosen on whether there are tenured communities in the area that will take care of the plantations, as well as based on the species’ viability in the area to be rehabilitated especially in terms of endemism.
“We want to stress that the objective of this tree planting under the NGP is to grow and not for show. For this reason, we are involving communities within or near planting sites as they will be responsible for taking care of the planted seedlings until they grow to maturity,” Paje said.
The area to be planted by the DENR employees covers some 18 hectares, a part of the 150-hectare upland area in the municipality of Bagac found to be in dire need of rehabilitation.
Paje said a people’s organization called “Association of Mountain Farmers of Sitio Kinainisan” (AMFSK), comprising of 30 households in the said barangay, has committed to take care of the newly planted seedlings. AMFSK is a holder of a 25-year Community-Based Forest Management Agreement (CBFMA) issued by the DENR, and covers some 315 hectares.
Paje also said that prior to planting, the employees are under instruction not to destroy the black polyurethane bags that hold the seedlings for reuse as part of DENR’s cost-cutting measures in the program.
Under EO 26, all government employees and students are required to plant 10 seedlings a year. On the part of the private sector, Paje said that companies are also encouraged to undertake similar activities, and to coordinate with any DENR office nearest them for the identification of planting sites and for technical assistance.
He reiterated his call on all Filipinos to take advantage of the predominantly wet climatic condition in the country as this would greatly increase the survivability of newly-planted seedlings. PAO, DENR
