High-tech greening

PANGASINAN—The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is monitoring the progress of its reforestation program minute by minute, using technology floating in space.

Leduina Co, provincial environment and natural resources officer (Penro) of Pangasinan, said the agency has kept watch on the Ilocos region leg of the national greening program (NGP) by geotagging, a process of fixing the coordinates and distance of each sapling planted in the area so computers aided by satellites can keep track.

The system also keeps track of the weather conditions in reforested areas.

Co said geotagging each tree is an efficient and effective monitoring system to validate and evaluate NGP planting sites.

“We are no longer just required to submit paper reports,” she said. The Penro intends to finish on June 15 the geotagging for reforested areas in Pangasinan dating back to 2011 and 2012. Yolanda Sotelo, Inquirer Northern Luzon