LA TRINIDAD, Benguet, Philippines—Mountain villages in Benguet that were damaged by Typhoon “Pepeng” in 2009 will be this year’s priorities for the national greening program (NGP).
Gov. Nestor Fongwan said Barangays Little Kibungan, Eastern Buyagan and Puguis in La Trinidad town and the mountain villages in Atok town suffered major landslides and badly needed trees that would hold up the soil.
The national greening program requires every sector to plant trees and establish nurseries within six years. It consolidates all regreening and reforestation programs of the previous administrations.
Octavio Guanso, senior forest management specialist of the provincia l environment and natural resources office (Penro) in Benguet, said the government is partnering with institutions such as Benguet State University for technology transfer and the production of quality seedlings that would be planted in eroded mountainsides.
“These areas need to be stabilized before the onset of the rainy season because these have unstable slopes,” Guanso said.
The Penro will plant 725 seedlings in 1,300 hectares of land in Benguet.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has allotted P7.5 million for the regreening program in Benguet for 2011.
A total of 3.4 million seedlings of Benguet pine, gemelina, alnus, coffee and fruit bearing trees will be planted in 7,000 hectares in the Cordillera this year.
The program intends to grow 1.5 billion trees in 1.5 million hectares nationwide from 2011 to 2016.
Guanso said the Department of Education has been tasked to mobilize public school students for the tree planting.
“We are expecting an 80 percent survival rate for the seedlings that we are going to plant. That has been the [historical output of] tree planting programs in the past. But with this program, we are expecting an even higher [survival rate]. In six months, these seedlings are expected to have a length of 30 centimeters,” he said.
He also said the Penro has required mining firms in the province to identify areas near their mine sites where seedlings could be planted. Desiree Caluza, Inquirer Northern Luzon