2,011 seedlings of native trees planted to launch 2011 as International Year of the Forest

By BONG PEDALINO, PIA Southern Leyte
February 10, 2011

SILAGO, Southern Leyte  –  The year 2011 is Year of the Rabbit in Chinese Calendar, but 2011 was also the International Year of the Forest, as declared by the United Nations, to raise awareness and strengthen importance of forests.

Last week, either by design or coincidence, the Chinese New Year, which fell on February 3, also became the date for the launching of this yearlong observance here in this pacific town, as initiated by the Visayas State University (VSU), according to Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer (PENRO) Ricardo Tomol.

The UN launching was held also on the same date in New York (Feb. 2), it was learned.

“Some 2,011 pieces of local indigenous seedling were planted, like lawaan, tugas, narra as a way to launch 2011 as international year of the forest,” Tomol told Philippine Information Agency (PIA) in a phone interview on Wednesday.

These were planted by high school students, personnel from VSU, the local government unit, and others, said Tomol, who was present during the event.

Congressman Roger Mercado and Governor Damian Mercado each sent representatives who also joined in the tree-planting, he added.

Venue of the activity was the watershed area, the upstream portion of Silago’s Mag river.

The VSU-led project headed by their President Jose Bacusmo called for a close monitoring in two to three years’ time of some 50 hectares of Silago’s total forest, while another component was the rehabilitation or reforestation of some 75 hectares of this town’s denuded mountains and open areas.

PENRO Tomol said DENR’s participation of this endeavor, together with the LGU, was the identification of specific areas that need to be closely watched and to be focused attention.