KIBUNGAN, Benguet – As part of the National Greening Program (NGP) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), a tree planting and growing activity continues to be implemented at Sitio Dalipey in Barangay Tacadang, Kibungan, Benguet, following other sitios this coming May 2022.
According to the DENR, the activity had multiple aims: to reduce poverty; implement sustainable management of natural resources; promote food security; ensure environmental stability and biodiversity conservation; promote public awareness and instill social and environmental consciousness; and enhance climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The NGP program started in June 2021 with the planting of 62,000 trees, including pine trees, mahogany, narra, and fruit-bearing trees, like cacao and rambutan.
In Barangay Tacadang alone, the total NGP budget for 2021-2023 is PhP 1.3 million for the purchase of seedlings, nursery preparation, soil preparations, and operations and maintenance.
Further, the target land area for tree plantation is 52 hectares, particularly at Sitios Bauko and Bilig serving as two of the barangay’s water reservoir and main area for tree plantation.
To ensure that the planted trees are growing, the DENR-NGP team conducted a monitoring for the planted trees in January to March 2022.
“One of the problems recorded was some of the trees were dying, especially the pine trees due to the climate of the place,” Liwagen explained.
In order to solve the problem, Liwagen disclosed that they started the replantation of 10,000 seedlings from March to April 2022.
“Mayat na iman programa din gobyerno, wada di maisek ay kaew ay usalen metlang adi mo madakdake, ya at least wada di pakipuldiyaan (The program of the government is helpful to the community. There were seedlings of trees that we will plant that the community may use when they grow, and at the same, it provides additional income to us),” shared Inyong Way-ya, a resident and active volunteer of the program.
On the other hand, Sonia Tauli, another community member and an active volunteer, encouraged their constituents to participate and plant fruit trees for their consumption.
“Mayat abe tan wada di prutas ay naitapi, tan na maga di usto si prutas sina, ta wada koma di prutas si odom, ta ipadas di odom ay prutas tan na din prutas ay wadas na yan magay osto en si lames da, baken kaman ed idi ay ad-ado damdama di maala kaman din langka ya star apple. (It is also good that there are fruits planted so that we will try other kinds of fruits to grow in our community, because some of the fruit bearing trees here already had little fruits, unlike before that it has many fruits to gather like the jackfruits and star apple),” enthused Tauli.
Lastly, Dominguez Fabian, NGP-Tacadang community head, said that they look forward to strengthening the tree planting activity that NGP may also focus and consider more fruit-bearing trees.
Fabian called the active participation of the whole Tacadang to support the NGP in restoration of the forest reserves.
By Mylene T. Gualdo