ILOILO – About three million trees have so far been planted in this province’s 42 towns and one component city since July 2019 under the administration of Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. According to the Provincial Government Environment and Natural Resources Office (PGENRO), Iloilo was able to plant 1.5 million trees in 2019, under the Action for Re-Greening and Transformation for Climate Change Adaptation (ART for CCA) program started by Defensor’s father, then governor Arthur Sr.
Another 1.6 million trees were planted in 2020 under the “Tanum (Plant) Iloilo” program, while 1.5 million more would be planted this year.
“This June 26, we will have a province-wide tree growing in line sa celebration sang Environment Month,” said Mitzi Peñaflorida, PGENRO’s senior environmental management specialist.
Today, incidentally, is World Environment Day.
“Ang difference subong nga year kay whole year round ang pagtanum unlike last 2020 nga in one day lang. Subong gin-spread whole year round tungod sang pandemic,” she told Panay News.
Peñaflorida revealed that many planted trees were not maintained as they were planted inside schools. The current pandemic has left them untended, she noted.
Trees planted in local government units (LGU), on the other hand, were more properly maintained.
“The ideal is 80 percent up (survival rate), pero in one year, indi kita makahambal nga nagatindog sia, buhi na sia… Damo factors… kis-a taas na ang seedling but still mapatay sia. Kon indi maalagan maayo, may animals or masalapay man sang salakyan or tawo…” she said.
“Siguro after a year or two dira naton mahatag ang exact kon pila ka percent ang nag-survive. Right now makita lang namon nga gatindog sia so ma-consider namon nga buhi,” she explained.
Peñaflorida is encouraging those who joined the program to tend to their seedlings.
“Gina-encourage namon ang any group or any organization nga nagtanum sa particular nga area tani sila man mag-make sure nga mapabuhi or ano bala ang need sang seedlings para taas man ang survival (rate). So, gina-amat-amat naton balik sa tanan nga stakeholders nga indi lang sila mag-tree planting kundi to make sure nga mapabuhi gid naton,” she said.
The PGENRO specialist also encouraged residents to plant trees in their home yards and in vacant lots, especially native and fruit-bearing trees.
Some of the PGENRO-recommended seeds include narra, molave, ilang-ilang, banaba, toog, among others, and fruit trees such as duhat, caimito, santol, pomelo, lansones, sampalok, and chico./PN
