COTABATO CITY (MindaNews/06 December) – Volunteers replaced on Saturday the seedlings that were planted in Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao as part of the “Treevolution” campaign but did not survive.
At least a hundred students and Army soldiers belonging to the Balik Kalikasan Advocacy Group (BKAG) from Cotabato City and Maguindanao undertook the replanting activity in Barangay Pigcalagan in Sultan Kudarat town, Capt. Gregorio Jose, focal person of BKAG, said.
Jose said some 30 percent of 500 Antipolo and Lanipao seedlings planted in a five-hectare reforestation area died.
“This (replanting) was our commitment together with my brigade commander Col. Arnel Dela Vega before to the regional governor Mujiv Hataman that we will ensure the trees we planted are not only for show or compliance but to sincerely implement reforestation to mitigate climate change,” he said.
Hataman led the “Treevolution” in Pigcalagan, and he said he wanted to visit the place to see how the seedlings have fared.
He said the place should be reforested to address frequent floods.
STI College, a member of BKAG, meanwhile pledged to adopt more communities for reforestation aside from Pigcalagan.
BKAG played a big part in mobilizing participants to the “Treevolution” campaign last May led by the Mindanao Development Authority and Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
BKAG is an environment advocacy group comprised of the 6th Division, DENR, academe, civil society groups, Minirco Lumber Inc., and Cotabato media. (Ferdinandh B. Cabrera/MindaNews)
