by Joseph B Zambrano

BAGUIO CITY, April 6 – Some 3,400,000 trees will be planted over 6,838 hectares  of land in the Cordillera region for a period of six years under the National Greening Program (NGP).

According to regional technical Augusto Lagon of the Forest Management Service of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Cordillera, the trees will be planted in forest lands, mangroves, and protected areas, ancestral domains,civil and military reservations, urban areas under the greening plan, inactive and abandoned mine sites, and other suitable  lands.

According to Lagon, President Benigno S. Aquino issued last February Executive Order (EO) No. 26 creating the NGP to pursue sustainable development for poverty reduction, food security, biodiversity conservation, and climate change mitigation, and adaption.

Lagon said in order to ensure the successful implementation of the NGP the following strategies shall be adopted. All students identified by the Department of Education (DepEd) and Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and all government employees shall individually required to plant a minimum of 10 seedlings a year.

Private sector and civil society groups shall likewise be encouraged to participate in the NGP with assistance from government and  shall primarily be responsible in maintaining and protecting the established planting materials.

The E.O. also stated that all proceeds from agroforestry plantations duly accounted by the DENR shall accrue to the NGP beneficiary communities to address food security and poverty reduction. *(JBZ-PIA CAR)