Kabilin trees planted by Toledo lake

A kamagong seedling planted by a lake in Toledo City was the 79,000th and last kabilin tree for the Malubog Watershed Conservation Project. Kabilin is the Cebuano word for heritage.

“This Kabilin project is a great legacy that we can leave to our children,” said Toledo City Mayor Rudy Espinosa.

Launched in August 2010, the project has changed lives of people in the host barangay of General Climaco and enhanced the natural beauty of Toledo, he said in a speech.

Seedlings of narra, molave and jackfruit were planted to rehabilitate the watershed and address carbon emissions from private coal-fired power plants in Toledo.

The aim was to plant 79,000 trees in a 100-hectare site in Malubog, where a dam and manmade lake are located.

A three-year planting target was achieved in just two years, said Leah Diaz, vice president for Toledo Site Operations of the Global Business Power Corporation.

Mayor Espinosa said the project succeeded with the cooperation of the local government units, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the private sector.

It also provided livelihood for 46 land stewards who receive P200 a day to watch over and nurture the trees. These are farmers living in the host barangay of General Climaco where three sitios benefited.

These are sitio Abayan (9,480 trees in 12 hectares), Sitio Camanchiles (50,540 trees in 53.5 hectares) and Sitio Hikapon (18,860 trees in 24 hectares.)

After two years of planting, 99 percent the trees have survived, said the private company.

“The land stewards were able to take care of the plants because we’ve given them ownership of the trees. But they have to ask permission if they plan to use the trees for personal use,” said Amador Cavan, Toledo City environment officer.

The DENR’s national program aims to rehabilitate 82 million hectares of forest land in the country, of which Cebu has 46,000 hectares./Correspondent Careen L. Malahay