UCPB reforestation project a self-sustaining venture

UCPB is introducing another innovation that could pave the way for a more sustainable reforestation effort by the private sector throughout the country. Starting next week, the bank will start planting cash crops such as coffee and pepper in between the hardwood trees at its 81-hectare reforestation site in Barangay Boso-Boso in Antipolo, Rizal. The initial planting of the cash crops will be done by employees of the bank and its subsidiaries and affiliates during the annual environmental climb organized by the UCPB-CIIF Foundation, which is implementing the program.

"In three years time, the crops would generate earnings that will help defray our maintenance costs and sustain the project for the long-term," says UCPB-CIIF Foundation president Edgardo Amistad. Amistad noted that the lack of funds has been the bane of most reforestation efforts in the country.

The UCPB Reforestation Program, which is now on its 12th year, is being implemented inside the watershed that protects the Marikina River, an important source of water for Metro Manila’s residential and industrial use. The only one of its kind in the country to be operated by a private corporation without any funding support from the National Government or any foreign agency, the UCPB Reforestation Program is considered the biggest purely private initiative of its kind and one of the most successful reforestation effort in the country.

Amistad said that as of the first quarter of 2000 , around 42,000 hardwood trees of various species have been planted on the 81-hectare site. He added that of the total land area, around 33.3 hectares have been declared as totally reforested by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Since 1989, when the program started with only 20 hectares, UCPB has been shouldering all the developmental costs. According to Amistad, as the program expanded over the years the bank hired a full time forester to oversee planting and maintenance work on the site year round. It has also established an on-site nursery to produce planting materials. To-date, the nursery has produced 60,000 seedling of narra, mahogany and other tree species.

The UCPB Reforestation Program has garnered two recognitions. In 1995, it received a special citation from the DENR for its important contribution to the country’s reforestation effort. Then in 2000, it won the highly coveted Asian Banking awards as the best environmental project by a bank in Asia.