More community participation in greening program pushed

A LAWMAKER on Wednesday called for empowering local communities near so-called critical forest ecosystems to support the government’s reforestation efforts.

In a statement, Rizal Rep. Juan Fidel Felipe F. Nograles said the Environment department lacks sufficient manpower to reforest stripped forests across the country, such as those in Rizal and Bataan provinces.

“If we are to ensure that the government’s reforestation program succeeds, we should empower our communities so they can be stewards who will help take care of the forest and environment,” he said in mixed English and Filipino. “As it is, we are already facing manpower challenges. Just in terms of the number of foresters and forest rangers alone, we are severely lacking.”

The Environment department in late March launched a reforestation initiative targeting the planting of five million trees by 2028, focusing on key provinces such as Ilocos Norte, Rizal, Leyte, Bataan, Bukidnon and Lanao del Norte.

In 2021, there were only 14,000 registered foresters in the Philippines, each overseeing an average of 514 hectares across about 7.2 million hectares of forested land, Mr. Nograles said, citing data from the Society of Philippines Foresters.

“We have to think about the program’s continuity,” he said. “What happens after the government and private sector partners have planted the seedlings?”

“We still have to ensure that these will survive and grow into actual trees, and only then can we call the program a real success,” he added. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio