Aeta group tapped to revive Tarlac forest

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga , Philippines   â€“ A group of Aetas will reforest an additional 100 hectares of forestland in Tarlac in line with the government’s National Greening Program (NGP).

The New San Martin Multi-Purpose Cooperative has been awarded with another contract to reforest 100 hectares of land in the villages of Gayaman and Anupol in Bamban, said Laurino Macadangdang, chief of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Tarlac City.

Macadangdang said the cooperative, headed by Oscar Dizon, has been a partner of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for the last 10 years in reviving at least 5,000 hectares of denuded forest at the border of Tarlac and Pampanga.

He said the group has been working the mountains of Bamban in Tarlac, and Sapang Bato, and in areas near the Clark Freeport in Pampanga.

Among the trees they planted were the narra, gemelina, molave, tuai, mahogany, kupang, kamagong, and eucalyptus.

The group also planted cacao, coffee, bamboo, and mango trees, which they harvest and sell for their livelihood, he said.

Dizon said his group has done so much that they lost count of the number of trees they have planted.

Raymart Dizon, one of the planters, said he gets P2,000 monthly for planting and maintenance work.

“The good thing with this project is we get paid for planting the trees, and its produce also benefit us,” he said.