Environmentalists want ‘calumpang’ trees preserved

ENVIRONMENTAL advocates want to preserve a cluster of native trees at Iloilo City’s commercial and entertainment center. Jurgenne Primavera/Contributor

ILOILO CITY—Leave those native trees alone.

Environmentalists made the appeal to property developers and the city government to preserve a cluster of 10 “bubog” or “calumpang” trees (Sterculia foetida) at the heart of the commercial and entertainment area. They have grouped themselves into the Save the Bubog Grove-Iloilo Botanical Garden Movement.

While the tree species is not endangered, retired scientist and environmentalist Jurgenne Primavera said it was rare to find a cluster of the trees similar to those found in Barangay San Rafael.

“We usually find them as a single tree and it’s remarkable to find many of them so close to the commercial center,” Primavera told the Inquirer.

The trees are found in a privately owned lot along the Sen. Benigno Aquino Avenue in Barangay San Rafael in Mandurriao District where commercial and entertainment buildings have been constructed. The lot is near a shopping mall, restaurants and bars and mixed-use buildings.

Major investment projects are also sprouting or being planned near the grove.

Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog said the city government would appeal to the lot owners not to allow the cutting of the trees. “We hope the owners will heed our appeal,” he said.

The trees, believed to be more than 10 years old, usually grow on riverbanks and coral sandstone rocks along the coast. They reach as high as 40 meters, with trunks measuring up to 1 meter in diameter, according to Primavera.

Bubog trees are usually left alone by residents on the belief that these harbor bad spirits, the scientist said. This explains the presence of old and large trees in several areas.

The trees provide shade, and their seeds are good to eat either fresh or toasted and taste similar to almonds and walnuts. Oil from its seeds is also used for painting and illuminating and the fruit is utilized as dye-sprayed decor.

According to Primavera, cited by Time magazine among its “Heroes of the Environment” in 2008 for her contribution to environmental protection and mangrove conservation,  the flowers and leaves of the bubog tree are also known for medicinal uses.

“The planet Earth is all the better for a few more trees left untouched, to give services of water regulation, food production, carbon sequestration among others,” she said.