P1.5 billion allocated for tree planting

MANILA, Philippines –  The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) yesterday announced plans to allocate some P1.5 billion for the national greening program where students will be tapped to plant trees.

DENR Undersecretary Manuel Gerochi said the P1.5-billion allocation would be the initial amount as additional financial assistance would come from the private sector and other government agencies, including the Philippine Amusements and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor).

“We can also get mining companies, wood growers and private nurseries to donate seedlings to be used in the project,” Gerochi told the International Conference of Biodiversity and Climate Change at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

In cooperation with the Department of Education (DepEd), Gerochi said the project would tap some 14 million students who will be guided on where they would plant the seedlings.

“Apart from planting trees, this undertaking also aims to provide livelihood to communities in the uplands. Seedlings of hardwood as well as fruit-bearing trees will be planted by these students under the guidance of DepEd,” Gerochi said.

Gerochi added some 1.5 million hectares of forestland would be covered by the project.

To make this possible, partnerships will also be made with other agencies such as the Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Agriculture, Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Public Works and Highways and the Commission on Higher Education.

Gerochi explained high school and college students taking up the National Service Training Program would be required to plant trees in the uplands while elementary students will plant in the lowland areas.

Gerochi added the DepEd is planning to include tree planting in the curriculum and make the program mandatory.

“What happens is that we will be covering 200 to 250 hectares per year so that it will take us five years for this project to be completed,” Gerochi said.

“We need these trees to mitigate the effects of climate change,” he added.

Gerochi said a team from DENR has already started identifying sites where the seedlings will be planted.

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said they are looking at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija as a pilot area for the program.

“It will not just be a simple tree planting. We will now also require students to take care of and nurture the seedlings they planted until such time that they are grown,” Paje said.

Under the program, schools will be required to compost their waste that will serve as fertilizer for the tree seedlings.

Environmentalists, researchers, scientists, academicians, policy makers and representatives from various related organizations participated in the conference.

Paje said the conference would provide a venue for the participants to come up with strategies to conserve biodiversity, particularly in the Asia Pacific region.

He said the activity comes on the heels of the celebration of the year 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity, with the theme “Biodiversity is life. Biodiversity is our life.”