DENR-7 highlights Oslob’s success in greening program

CEBU, Philippines - In line with the celebration of environment month, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources yesterday bared the success story of Oslob town in terms of survival rate for the National Greening Program.

It registered 84 percent survival rate based on the latest inventory conducted last month, said Community Environment and Natural Resources Office Argao chief Flordeliza Geyrozaga. 

Oslob is within the jurisdiction of CENRO Argao.

Forest Management Services regional technical director Eduardo Inting said Oslob’s 84 percent this contributed a lot to the 80 percent survival rate for the entire Central Visayas region since 2011, when the NGP started.

Geyrozaga further shared that the Oslob NGP plantation is currently covering 2,699 hectares and an additional 6,000 more have yet to be planted.

“Of  Oslob’s total area of 11,000 hectares, 8,000 is classified as timberland. Of the total 21 barangays, only Poblacion has no timberland.

Five barangays are considered pure timberland,” she explained, emphasizing that these “timberland” used to be barren mountains until the NGP “clothed” this “nude” upland.

Only endemic or native tree species are planted along NGP project sites like the ones in Oslob namely tugas (Molave), pangantoon (Mamalis), and the like.

NGP aims to accomplish five objectives namely poverty alleviation, biodiversity conservation, food security (planting cacao, coffee, fruit-bearing trees), environmental stability, climate change mitigation and adaptation. — (FREEMAN)