Tree planting program for metal-rich lands in South Cotabato set

COTABATO CITY — The Mines and Geosciences Bureau-12, in collaboration with a private university, is currently studying the propagation of plants and trees most suitable for metal-rich areas in South Cotabato as an environmental protection measure.

Radio reports from Cotabato City on Saturday, February 15, stated that researchers and geologists from MGB 12, the University of Mindanao (UM), and a private firm met last week in Tampakan, South Cotabato, to begin a study on sourcing rare metallophytes—plants that can survive on land with metal deposits—for large-scale propagation in the municipality.

The five-year project also involves Sagittarius Mines Incorporated (SMI), which the national government has contracted to operate the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project starting next year, with written permission from Blaan tribal leaders in Tampakan and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources 12, the MGB 12, the UM, whose main campus is in Davao City, and the SMI shall together push the metallophyte plant and tree project forward, dubbed Trial Planting of Forest Tree Species Inoculated with Mycorrhiza in SMI Copper-Gold Environment.

An official of UM, Charlyn Gorgonio, who is managing the project, had explained that Mycorrhiza is a non-harmful fungus that hastens the adaptability and growth of plants in areas with large metal deposits.

Domingo Collado, an appointed representative of the Blaan community to the municipal council of Tampakan, and a T’boli chieftain from another town, Edmund Ugal, said their tribes are supporting the project.

"The SMI is obliged to focus on rehabilitation of areas where it is to operate so this research project we are doing, as a team, shall focus on what plant and tree species are most ideal for that,” Gorgonio said.

Officials in three of the four towns that the Tampakan Copper-Gold project shall cover, Vice Mayor Naila Mamalinta of Columbio, Mayor Maria Theresa Constantino of Malungon and Joel Calma of Kiblawan separately told reporters on Saturday that their local government units, the DENR-12, the SMI and their Blaan constituents had planted 1.3 million forest tree seedlings in highland areas in the past five years. 

“We are glad that we have this research project. We ought to thank the entities involved in this venture, particularly the University of Mindanao and the government’s Mines and Geosciences Bureau,” Mamalinta said on Saturday.