Manila sets the example for tree-planting drive

We want to commend Manila Mayor Lito Atienza for being the first mayor to launch a tree-planting program in Manila that will cover most of the 897 barangays and the city schools and universities and colleges of Manila. We have always believed that all students should plant at least one tree a year. I don’t believe that any person’s life is truly complete unless he has left a tree that will flourish long after he is gone. The most famous poem on trees says "Only God can make a tree." True! But we can all plant them and we should all take a part in increasing the number of trees in our environment.

If Mayor Atienza’s plan materializes, we will have half a million more trees in every available open space in Manila. Right now, the only thing Manila has is the Arroceros Forest. We suggest that Mayor Atienza launches his tree-planting project in the Manila area where the squatters along the railroad tracks were transferred to a more conducive residential area. And we hope that Makati City will also do the same in Makati area and then we will have a forest that extends for several kilometers in Metro Manila. What a great improvement that would be.

On the very same day, we were equally glad to read that through the Philippine Forest Corp., the national government is planning to produce some 5.6 billion liters of bio-fuel and that all these would start with the plantation of jatropha trees for the next 10 to 12 years. The jatropha tree is locally known as tuba-tuba and its large-scale production would help in curbing our dependence on imported fuels as it could be a major source of renewable energy. This would mean the planting of two million hectares of unproductive public and private lands including the forests that were denuded in mountains all over the country. This is one reason why we are having landslides and floods in many provinces.

According to the PhilForest, one hectare of land can absorb 2,500 jatropha trees that could produce an average of five tons of seeds annually that when harvested will yield 1,430 liters of crude oil. This means that one hectare of tuba-tuba plantation can give an annual income of P22,000 to P25,000 to the land owner. It could be one of the most profitable plantations in the future.

We would really like to see the day when our denuded forests are replaced with productive trees. We must have our very own sources of renewable energy. The world supply of oil is running out. We must find new sources and if possible, we must find it right at home. We must also look into the possibilities of solar, wind and tidal power. We believe that we have not fully taken full advantage of these natural sources of power.