PENRO initiates ‘arboretum for generations’ project

• Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=8&rid=816177
• Friday, October 16, 2015

(PNA), RMA/CD/ERCEL MAANDIG

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Oct. 16 (PNA) – The Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) of Misamis Oriental has initiated a tree-growing activity in the village of Malasag here dubbed as “Arboretum for Generations.”

Edgardo S. Callanta, head of PENRO in Misamis Oriental, said that the program was in partnership with E. Pelaez Ranch Inc. (EPRI), which provided a 10-hectare area to be planted with endangered indigenous species of trees that have to be protected.

Eduardo F. Pelaez, EPRI president, said arboretum was a place where trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants were cultivated for conservation, scientific and educational purposes.

“We expect to attain the project with the active participation of stakeholders in both the private and public sector through the public-private partnership,” Pelaez said.

Dr. Ceasar Nuevo, professional forester at EPRI, said that “Arboretum” was important in conservation efforts to save endangered trees and wildlife that depended on these trees.

He said that vegetation was vital to address climate change/global warming.

“More than just planting trees, the project seeks to pursue the sustainable source of quality indigenous tree species identified/classified as endangered and can be protected and propagated to preserve biological diversity and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change,” said Nuevo.

He also said the arboretum wanted to collect more from all over Mindanao.

A total of 115 seedlings planted in the launching with indigenous trees such as almon, white lauan, manggasinoro, mayapis, red lauan, bagtikan, sakat, kalumpit, molave, bani, narra, kalukoi, nangka-nangka and dao came from Bukidnon, Zamboanga and Gingoog city, said Callanta.

Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez, of Cagayan De Oro City, said that in October, the Philippines submitted the country’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) to the United Nations (UN), pledging to cut by 70 percent its carbon emissions by the year 2030.

He said that the document represented the country’s contribution to the global effort to combat and prepare for climate change.

Rodriguez also said that the Philippines had also committed to adaptation measures to help prepare its citizens for impacts of climate change such as typhoons and drought.