Newly-planted bakawan trees at the mangrove site in
Pag-asa. - Photo courstesy of NOE CHRISTIAN S NOLASCO
By ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ
NEWLY-reelected mayor Ricarte Padilla has launched an
ambitious program to plant one million trees in about two thousand hectares in
Mambulao within three years.
The initiative debuted recently at Baranggay Pag-asa, home
to a vast mangrove area that has been denuded by commercial charcoal makers and
firewood gatherers.
It was followed by a weekend sortie in Salvacion where 8,000
young bakawan trees were transplanted into the area’s denuded mangrove.
The first tree-planting gig was fully supported by the local
council members and schoolchildren who planted young bakawan trees.
Pag-asa intends to plant more than 50,000 bakawan trees,
which will be carried out twice a month, and has set up a bakawan seedling
nursery to source the planting materials.
The program is being spearheaded by the Sangguniang Bayan
Committees on Environmental Management and Forestry.
Under the program, the Mambulao government will tap the
private sector, various non-governmental organizations, baranggay communities,
schools, the tribal community of the Kabihug and relevant government agencies.
Invited to join were private firms Johson Gold Mining Corp,
processor Elnar Gold Processing, Camarines Norte Electric Cooperative
(Canoreco) Jose Panganiban Water District and Pan Century Surfactant.
Among those targeted for replanting and reforestation
efforts are watershed that included the areas around the Paltic Dam which
supplies water to the community, denuded mangrove areas in coastal baranggays
such as Santa Elena, Sta Milagrosa, Larap, Osmena and Luklukan Sur and Norte.
In fact last Sunday, about 500 volunteers trooped to Paltic
Dam watershed and transplanted about 3,000 forest and indigenous trees.
Over the past two weeks close to 14,000 young trees were
planted in three areas – Pag-asa, Salvacion and Paltic Dam watershed area.
Aside from mangrove trees, the program will also plant
hardwood trees and fruit-bearing trees that included kakaw, sampalok, mango,
santol, malingang among others.
The planting materials are being grown in a municipal
nursery, which also sells young fruit trees to interested groups and
individuals.
Padilla intends to push the one-million-trees target before
his second term ends in 2016.
He declared: "We have more or less 44,000ha of territorial
waters at Jose Panganiban, and ideally 30% of that area should be covered by mangroves
so that reproduction process of our marine resources are not hindered … wala pa
po sa 10% ang mangrove areas natin kaya ito po ang isa sa mga dahilan kung
bakit mahina na ang huli ng ating mga mangingisda ... this may be ambitious
dream, but I know we can do it! Together we can bring back a greener and
cleaner Mambulao...."
The municipal seedling nursery that will supply
planting materials from hardwood species to fruit-bearing trees. – Photo
courtesy of ARTEM ANDAYA/Member,SB-Mambulao
Email the writer: ahernandez@thenational.com.pg and
alfredophernandez@y7mail.com
