CEBU, Philippines - At least 2,000 seedlings were planted covering at least 1.5 hectare within the Central Cebu Protected Landscape in the recent tree planting activity of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-7 together with some 200 participants.
Around 1,500 ulayan (Quercus apoensis) and 240 kamagong (Diospyros blancoi) seedlings were planted during the activity which aims to inculcate the value of trees as they greatly contribute in improving air quality, providing oxygen, conserving water, preserving soil, and supporting wildlife.
Isabelo R. Montejo, DENR-7 regional executive director, in a statement, said that ulayan and kamagong are indigenous tree species in the country and was used because these are very important in addressing the reforestation objectives and help improve or conserve the country's biodiversity.
Montejo said that DENR are progressively shifting from the internationally-known fast-growing species to native or indigenous as they want to enhance the biodiversity here being a protected area.
Montejo added that this is in support to the National Greening Program which seeks to improve water quality in rivers and irrigation for farm lands, lessen the potential for flooding, and absorb carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
Considering that rainy season is already here, Montejo said DENR is encouraging the communities to join them in their reforestation efforts by coordinating with their community environment and natural resources offices in Central Visayas.
President Aquino issued Executive Order (EO) 26 on February 24, 2011 establishing the NGP not only to reforest 1.5 million hectares of land but also to promote a sustained environmental awareness campaign in the face of the deleterious effects of climate change.
It could be recalled that DENR 7 has produced about 8 million seedlings throughout the region under the Aquino administration's NGP mostly indigenous and agro-forestry tree species.
For this year, the DENR intends to plant a total of 170 million seedlings on 300,000 hectares nationwide. (FREEMAN)