The Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Negros Island Region (DENR-NIR) targets to plant around 200,000 native trees this year.
DENR-NIR director Charlie Fabre told the Philippine News Agency June 25 that the tree-planting program will kick off as part of the Philippine Arbor Day celebration as mandated by the national government.
“We will hold simultaneous tree-planting activities across the region in celebration of Arbor Day, but this is just the beginning of a bigger target to plant more trees this year,” Fabre said. “We are asking the local governments and agencies to participate in this nationwide movement”.
Yesterday, the DENR initiated tree-planting activities in lowlands, uplands, and mangrove areas across the region.
“Since this is an ongoing event until the end of the year, each local government unit (LGU) is asked to plant 3,100 seedlings of endemic and native species,” he said.
No exotic species will be allowed, he added.
The DENR hopes to plant five million trees nationwide this year, Fabre said.
Negros Oriental has six cities and 19 municipalities (25 LGUs), Negros Occidental with 12 component cities and 19 municipalities, aside from the highly-urbanized Bacolod City, and Siquijor has six municipalities.
To support the campaign, the DENR-NIR has prepared around 250,000 seedlings of endemic tree species, including almaciga, for distribution to LGUs that need planting materials to meet their targets. ||
