CENRO Aparri to plant 503 hectares with trees

By Alvin Delos Santos

Thursday 26th of July 2012

APARRI, Cagayan, July 26 (PIA) -- The Department of Environment and Natural Resources Community Environment Natural Resources Office (DENR-CENRO) is continuously planting trees along its areas of responsibility, targeting 503 hectares this year.

Their areas of responsibility include Gonzaga, Lal-lo, Gattaran, Lasam and Allacapan, with this done in support to Executive Order 26 or the National Greening Program (NGP) of the national government.

CENRO Officer Edgar Martin said that in 2011, they were able to regreen some 341 hectares of barren land that are continuously monitored to ensure growth of the seedlings.

“We targeted 503 hectares this year which is attainable if only to contribute to the goals of the President of planting 1.5 billion trees on 1.5 million hectares by 2016 nationwide under the NGP,” Martin said.

He said the seedlings were purchased through bidding in the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System.

The DENR, he added, is open to groups like people’s organization who are interested to plant trees, as seedlings will always be available for them.

“But we will verify the site first to identify the tree species suited for the area,” Martin further said.

It is only after the verification process that the CENRO can recommend the area to DENR Regional Office.

As an incentive, the agency is ready to award P3,000 per hectare to newly planted reas with a survival rate of 85 percent. (TCB/ADS/BSY-PIA2)