ILOILO CITY (PIA) – The Iloilo provincial government is accelerating its environmental efforts as it aims to achieve the “Forest Province” status by 2044, creating different benefits for the province, including in the aspect of agriculture, food, tourism, and disaster resilience.
Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. announced the goal during the launching of his flagship programs Tanum Iloilo for MoRProGRes, Balik Alat 2.0, and Project Liso as part of the celebration of the 3rd Environmental Awareness Month on November 4, 2024.
“We want Iloilo to be a forest province, not only by declaration but in the most concrete and practical results and targets together with our partners and stakeholders,” Governor Defensor said.
Part of the strategies to achieve the goal, according to Defensor, is the province’s Tanum Iloilo for MoRProGRes Framework 2024-2044, which targets to boost Iloilo’s forest cover through data-based implementation, noting that data from the Provincial Government Environment and Natural Resources Office (PGENRO) indicated that the forest cover of the province averages at 12 percent.
The Tanum Iloilo program is a tree growing and forest development strategy which involves the reforestation of forest land and watershed areas; development of integrated social forest project as a resource base for food security and tourism; and engaging the public and private stakeholders to optimize tree growing and forest development activities at home, in schools, offices, municipalities, public plazas, highways, and commercial areas, among others.
Under the program, which was established in 2020, the provincial government already planted a total of 8,391,587 seedlings as of October 2024, with a 44.42 percent survival rate. The province also consistently achieved its annual target of 1.5 million seedlings planted.
A MoRProGRes Forest Map will also be established to help the province track the recovery progress of its tree growing activities in the primary and secondary forest areas.
“It is important that we recover our forest. And we want to recover that with you. We have started that already and the solution is continuous tree growing activities,” the governor said.
The Balik Alat 2.0 program, on the other hand, could compliment the goal of the province as the initiative aims to eliminate single-use plastic by reviving the use of environment-friendly handwoven baskets; while the Project Liso (Locally Intensified Seeds/Seedlings Collection One4TanumIloilo) is expected to instill behavioral change and self-consciousness among Ilonggos on the production of native/endemic forest, fruit, and flowering trees.
Defensor appealed for the cooperation of all municipalities and stakeholders, noting that the success of these initiatives depends on the collective efforts of all sectors. (AAL/JNH/PIA Iloilo/with reports from Balita Halin sa Kapitolyo)
