Just plant a tree

Almost a year and a half ago, Al Gore first swung by Manila during his Asian tour, upon the invitation of Ambassador Alfonso Yuchengco, to give a short talk and present his film An Inconvenient Truth to an invitational crowd at the RCBC Plaza. After attending that talk, I remembered wanting to write about the experience of listening to Gore, and more importantly about the gripping film. But I just couldn’t. I couldn’t because the issue of global warming was just too big, beyond me... that I didn’t know where to begin. All this time, my reflection was always trying to see how to write bite-size articles to make the issue of global warming closer and more relevant to our everyday life. When faced with hard facts about the state of our planet, where answers and solutions seem to be beyond us, we feel powerless. So I never bothered to touch on the subject... until now.

So OK: we are told to look at our personal carbon footprints or the amount of energy we each consume and try to discipline ourselves to conserve energy; and conserving water by watching out for leaking faucets; not to leave cell phone chargers plugged permanently into the sockets; try not to use plastic bags; work with environmental advocacies or sustainable processes, help disseminate information... we try to do our own little share. This is the most each of us can do. To just look around our own sphere of influence and see how we each can reach out to do our small miniscule part. The need to do something about helping our planet is already a non-negotiable issue. Climate change and global warming have changed the whole way we must look at our life and existence. Environmentalists have talked themselves hoarse to big business and countries to create more sustainable practices to support the environment... or we won’t even have a planet left to give to the next generation.

In the face of seeming insurmountable environmental issues in our world today, I decided to do something within my comfort zone. I went off to plant some trees. Yes, I just planted trees... something I have done in the past, something I will continue to do so again and again. For every tree planted allows more absorption of carbon dioxide, the production of clean air, the prevention of top soil erosion (and perhaps help abate some dreadful floods!). It is something I know how to do, amidst friends and like-minded people, all sweaty and dirty, touching raw earth and soil to find a home for a seedling crop. Last Sept. 8, a number of barako coffee tree seedlings came home to root in a farm in Barangay Kaypaaba in Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo (formerly Bailen) in Cavite. This specific tree planting session had more meaning for me now. It was to help sustain a daily habit (of drinking a couple of cups of coffee), which I had just developed in the past couple of years.

With the Figaro Foundation volunteers group and some members of the League of Corporate Foundation (LCF), we went off to help launch a demo coffee farm. Called Wild About Organic Coffee Tree Planting Program, the Figaro Foundation’s CSR project focuses on planting more coffee trees in the organic way. This leads to the development of regional coffee groups. One objective of the foundation is to have an international organic certification so the brand can demand higher prices in the export market. Working with the German Development Service (Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst or DED) for technical assistance towards an international “organic” certification, the Figaro Foundation has also aligned with the Cavite State University and the Benguet State University as research and documentation partners. Other programs of the foundation expand on the value of sustainable farming and environmental protection as a means of ensuring the long-term productivity of the land, which in turn sustains the farmers. Organic fertilizers are made from compost, and the education and training of coffee farmers have been part of the initiatives.

 From Kalinga, Ifugao and Benguet in the north, to Negros Occidental in the Visayas, and Davao in the south, they have aggressively sought partnerships with local government and farmers to keep planting coffee trees to sustain their business, as well as to help the livelihood of farmers. The result has been: regional groups of coffee farmers banding together for livelihood in partnership with local government, and the Figaro Foundation who buys their coffee beans.

To feel the moist muskiness of the damp earth, to get rained upon, to feel the connection with strangers joined through higher causes, I ended that day tired but happy. It was about renewing a relationship with Mother Earth and reconnecting to an ever-present circle and web of life. Suddenly, I don’t feel so powerless after all. Maybe I will push beyond my comfort zone and see what bigger steps I can take to align with the issue of global warming.