Gov’t targets 30K hectares for reforestation in Central Visayas

To promote biodiversity and ecological stability, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is encouraging the public to get involved in planting trees.

Around 30,000 hectares of forest have been targeted for rehabilitation in Central Visayas this year, said Eduardo Inting, Regional Technical Director for Forest Management Services.

As of today however, Inting admits, they have only rehabilitated around 274 hectares of forest in the region.

The DENR is targeting to produce indigenous tree seedlings and fast growing timber species for its National Greening Program (NGP).

“Increasing the percentage of the forest cover will address the problem of soil erosion, ecological stability, biodiversity, and soil and water conservation. It would also help in the supply of lumber and raw materials,” Inting said.

A budget of P136.566 million is allocated by the DENR for the rehabilitation of identified forest areas and NGP sites in the four provinces of Region 7 this year.

The NGP is a massive rehabilitation program of the government which aims to plant 1.5 billion trees in 1.5 million hectares of land nationwide from 2011 to 2016.

The NGP is also seen to mitigate climate change by enhancing the country’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide, which is the main cause of global warming.

It also aims to address poverty reduction as it provides livelihood activities for upland communities through seedling production and maintenance of newly-planted trees.

The Forest Management Services of DENR 7 has produced a total of 8,246,436 seedlings as of May 17, which is 63 percent of the 13 million seedlings targetted for this year.

“Aside from achieving our targets on the number of seedlings, we also ensure that we have produced quality seedlings which shall be used to supply our various tree planting and growing programs here in the region,” DENR 7 Regional Executive Director Isabelo Montejo said in a press statement.

The DENR is eyeing to plant 170 million seedlings on 300,000 hectares nationwide this year.

Areas included for rehabilitation under the NGP are forestlands, mangrove and protected areas, ancestral domains, civil and military reservation, urban greening areas, inactive and abandoned mine sites and other suitable lands.