by Jocelyn P. Alvarez
ZAMBOANGA CITY, 06 March. (PIA 9) - - Geared at saving the country’s indigenous trees, The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) under its National Greening Program (NGP) , partnered with two conservation groups to ascertain the supply of tree seedlings of prized tree species, said Mr. Roservirico Tan , Information Division Chief, DENR 9, in a press statement.
The partnership is demonstrated in a 5-year contract of continuous seedling supply of said groups to DENR, Tan informed.
“DENR Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje signed last week a Memorandum of Agreement with the Foundation for the Philippine Environment (FPE) and the Philippine Tropical Forest Conservation Foundation, Inc (PTFCF) which effectively opened the door of some 200 civil society organizations (CSOs) under FPE’s and PTFCF’s projects the opportunity to take part in the NGP in terms of producing planting materials using native tree species,” the active info division chief said.
Tan shared, “the said contract gives specific attention to the production of quality forest and fruit tree seedlings that are endemic to a specific NGP planting site.”
“Among the contributions to be gained by the partnership include ensured community livelihood, reduced impacts from climate change, increased promotion of biodiversity conservation and sustainable development within the locality,” Tan explained in the same press statement
Tan recalled “Last year the NGP raised and planted some 69.3 million tree seedlings in more than 118,000 hectares. Of the total planted seedlings, five million consisted of indigenous species like acacia, mayapis, molave, tindalo, toog, and teak.”
For 2012, the NGP targets to raise some 114 million seedlings to be planted over 200,000 hectares. Tan revealed 14 million of the 114 million seedlings are native tree species.
“The DENR is also tapping state universities and colleges (SUCs) nationwide to augment its nurseries across the country producing indigenous tree seedlings. Around 30 more agreements with SUCS have been lined up so far by the DENR,” Tan shared. (JPA/RT/DENR/PIA- ZBST)