Baguio folks with their faces painted with trees will march along Session Road in observance of the International Day of Forests and Trees on Monday March 21.
The assembly will be at the NBI Building grounds in Upper Session Road. The parade is set at 8am. Participants will walk from Session Road down to the Malcolm Square where an activity will be conducted. They will paint their faces with trees or any nature-inspired artworks.
Michael Bengwayan, the event organizer, says the parade is in celebration and in recognition of the contribution of trees to life. Further, it is also a protest to the different forms of tree cutting. Bengwayan is the Director of the Cordillera Ecological Center.
The march is to be participated in by environmental protection advocates, officials, local artists and residents. The event is one of the simultaneous environmental parades to be conducted around the world in celebration if the International Day of Forests and Trees.
Though Cordillera is one of the regions who have large forest covers in the country, it is not spared from deforestation. Last year, Department of Environment and Natural Resources-CAR has reported almost 500 hectares of forest covers is lost annually in the region.
The agency has planted almost 3,000 hectares of public lands with trees last year under the National Greening Project. The office is set to plant around 14,000 hectares this year.
By Peter P. Dalocdoc Jr.
