Greening project in NegOr has 90% survival rate

By Rachelle M. Nessia

Friday 8th of June 2012

DUMAGUETE CITY, June 8 (PIA) -- A rising star in the national government’s ongoing efforts to revive the country's woodlands is a reforestation site in Ayungon town, Negros Oriental, which is being touted as a champion and model of the National Greening Program (NGP) implementation nationwide.

This after the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office I (CENRO I) based in Ayungon surpassed the expectations of environment officials in terms of community support and participation to the greening program.

Last year marked the first year of NGP implementation nationwide, with the goal of planting 1.5 billion trees in around 1.5 million hectares of public lands between 2011 to 2016.

According to CENRO I chief Charlie Fabre, about 2,000 hectares were planted with trees in his coverage area last year. This accounts for 30 percent of the 120 percent - or 7,000 hectares - accomplishment achieved by the four provinces in Region 7 under the NGP.

Ayungon’s reforestation site, which covers about 1,127 hectares, also attained a 90 percent survival rate with the trees that were planted last year, said Fabre.

This is lesser than the 20 percent allowed mortality rate for the NGP.

But it is the manner in which the program was carried out in Ayungon that made it stand out at the national level, according to Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Region 7 (DENR-7) Regional Executive Director Maximo Dichoso who described Ayungon’s success as “superb and excellent.”

CENRO I was able to convince the local government officials down to the barangay level, people’s organizations, and upland dwellers to pitch in their full support for the greening program in Ayungon.

The CENRO chief said that the national DENR officials were impressed how the community willingly maintained the plantations on their own.

“The community saw for themselves that they were able to harvest from the trees that they planted, so they focused on the sustainability of the project,” said Fabre.

Despite the national attention Ayungon and CENRO I are receiving from their NGP implementation, Fabre said he does not yet consider the project a success.

He explained that under the NGP, endemic trees were planted within the identified protection areas in the Ayungon reforestation site, and fast-growing trees, mostly acacia, in the production areas.

Fabre said they discovered that acacia trees are ideal in wiping out kugon, a tall, perennial grass commonly used in thatching and which quickly catches fire. “The problem faced by reforestation sites is the threat of fires,” he explained.

Acacia trees are among the fastest growing trees as it takes only three years to grow. “So in a short period of time, we expect that there will be no more kugon shrubs in the plantations, and only then will we consider the project to be a success,” stressed Fabre.

Aside from Ayungon, CENRO I is also growing trees in a 730-hectare site in Bindoy town under the NGP.

Fabre said his office is focusing NGP’s implementation in the two municipalities so the project’s impact can easily be seen, a move that the DENR national office is also adopting. “For every region, there should be one or two model sites that are contiguous,” said Fabre.

The success of the Ayungon greening site has attracted visitors from all parts of the country who are drawn to what may also be considered a success story in Public Private Partnership.

“Every week, we have visitors in Ayungon. Some are as far as Mindanao to learn how we are implementing the project,” said Fabre.

Some of the visitors are officials who wish to replicate Ayungon’s success in their respective areas.

Dichoso added that Fabre has also been invited to talk in NGP discussions around the country to share how his office was able to elicit the cooperation of the LGUs and the private sector in implementing the greening program.

The province’s target area for this year under the NGP is doubled from 1,900 hectares last year to 2,619 hectares, with a seedling requirement of more than 1.3 million seedlings.

But local environment officials are confident that the province will once again be in the spotlight as it has already surpassed the seedling requirement.

“To date, the province of Negros Oriental has already prepared about 1.9 million seedlings ready for planting, with a total of budget of about P18 million involving 30 people’s organizations,” reported Dichoso during an environmental forum held in Dumaguete City.

The seedlings were from the more than 100 mother trees that were marked in the province’s seed production areas.

“We are ensuring that the seedlings being produced for our NGP planting must come from these mother trees in order to have high quality planting materials,” said Dichoso.

NGP’s national target last year was 100,000 hectares, and the number was hiked to 200,000 hectares this year.

Dichoso assured that the project will be a success if the community continues to participate in it.

“The program is gaining momentum in terms of area hectarage until 2016. We will continue to need the active involvement of the people’s organizations, private partners in the greening industry, and the non-government organizations engaged in the protection and involvement of the environment,” he said. (RMN/PIA Negros Oriental)