Madridejos includes tree care initiatives in its annual plan

CEBU, Philippines - To prevent seedling mortality, the municipality of Madridejos included a P150,000 budget in its Annual Investment Plan for its greening initiatives.

The bulk of the budget will be used for nurturing and maintenance activities, including hiring job order personnel to serve as caretaker in the planting sites to ensure seedlings grow to become forests, as well as replace planted native tree seedlings that did not survive.

This measure came after the town accounted the seedlings planted during the simultaneous province-wide tree-growing activity called Run 2 Plant 4 GREENIN (Generation REdemption and Expansion of Natural resources INitiatives in the Philippines) Philippines in June 25, 2011.

In his report, Concordio Cogal, municipal agricultural officer of Madridejos, declared that out of the 6,036 seedlings planted, only 3,548 survived, which translates to 58.7 percent survival rate.

“The low survival rate is attributed to the unfavorable weather conditions. Rain did not come weeks after the tree-growing event. Mostly affected were the seedlings planted in Barangay Pili by the group from Madridejos National High School,” Cogal said.

This inventory of seedlings was conducted six months after the municipality joined the Run 2 Plant 4 GREENIN Philippines.

“What Madridejos is doing is laudable. It is a manifestation of how serious they are to go beyond simple tree planting to developing real forests. It clearly shows that Madridejos has considered their present state of environment as a priority need. The appropriation of seedlings to replace those planted during the Run 2 Plant 4 GREENIN Philippines that did not survive is an indication that Madridejos is serious in addressing the effects of climate change through reforestation as an effective and sustainable strategy for climate change adaptation,” Rowena Bandola-Alensonorin, executive director of the Integrated Development unit of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI), said.

Cogal also reported that goats found their way inside the planting site. A common practice among farmers in Cebu is the feeding of natural food to their livestock.

“The goats feasted on the planted seedlings. It is not economical and practical to put tree guard for each seedling to prevent stray animals from eating the seedlings since there are thousands of them. Instead, these livestock should be kept in enclosure where farmer-owners gather grasses for the food requirement of these animals. This is the ideal practice,” Cogal said.

The Run 2 Plant for GREENIN Philippines, which was initiated by RAFI, is an annual simultaneous planting of native tree species in the towns and component cities of the Province of Cebu preceded by a run segment.

Cebu Provincial Governor Gwendolyn Garcia issued an executive order to institutionalize the Run 2 Plant 4 GREENIN Philippines in the province. The Run 2 Plant 4 GREENIN Philippines became a component of the Our Cebu Program, a joint development program of the Cebu Provincial Government and RAFI.

The Run 2 Plant 4 GREENIN Philippines is an initiative under the GREENIN Philippines Program of RAFI. The program’s strategies and approaches are holistic, focusing more on tree-growing and post-planting activities to ensure the survival of the native trees planted, thus ensuring the growth of vibrant forests.

The Run 2 Plant 4 GREENIN Philippines will again be held this year on June 30, 2012.

GREENIN Philippines Program is a program under the Integrated Development focus area of RAFI, addressing the foundations needed to develop successful communities. Its other focus areas include Micro-finance & Entrepreneurship, Culture & Heritage, Leadership & Citizenship, and Education.

For more information on how to collect and propagate seeds, please contact Myryl Mendoza at 418-7234 local 519, or email at [email protected], or visit www.rafi.org.ph or www.facebook.com/rafi.org.ph.     (FREEMAN)