DENR eyes to reforest 3 million hectares of land by 2028

Logo of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources inside the DENR main office in Quezon City. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) revealed on Wednesday that it aims to reforest three million hectares of land in the country by 2028.

DENR revealed this plan through a video presentation it showed before lawmakers during the House committee on appropriations’ deliberations on its proposed budget.

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“Within our 15 million hectares of classified forest lands, the DENR identified 1.2 million hectares of potential areas for forestry investment this year,” the agency’s presentation said.

“The goal of the department is to increase forest covered by adding at least 3 million hectares of forests to the country by 2028,” it added.

During the latter part of the hearing, Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga said the Philippines has 15 million hectares of classified forest lands, but only seven million hectares have forest cover.

Although this is less than half, Loyzaga said the figure has already increased compared to five million hectares of land with forest cover recorded in 2011.

Based on its presentation, the DENR is seeking a P1.01 billion budget for its Intensified Forest Protection and Anti-Illegal Logging Program.

The amount is a part of the proposed P26.27 billion budget of the agency for 2025, equivalent to .4 percent of the national total budget.

Aside from the said program, below are other initiatives of the DENR and their respective budgets:

• Water Resources Management Program – P213 million
• Scaling up of coastal and marine ecosystems – P265 million
• Solid Waste Management Program – P287.8 million
• Clean Water Program – P374 million
• Clean Air Program – P408 million
• Improved Land Administration and Management – P589 million
• Geo-Hazard, Groundwater Assessment and Responsible Mining – P613 million
• Data Management, including Systems Development and Maintenance – P1.14 billion
• Mapping and Resource Information Program – P1.29 billion
• Manila Bay Reclamation Program – P1.44 billion
• Enhanced National Greening Program – P1.47 billion
• Enhanced Biodiversity Conservation – P1.57 billion