Nokia Builds A Garden

Things are ringing and buzzing at the his-toric Rizal Park. Hammers are striking nail heads. Pick-axes are digging holes in the ground. Concrete blocks are moved into new positions.

In what used to be a decrepit parking lot, a garden rose to become "Mother Nature’s rest house in Manila." The Orchidarium and Butterfly Pavilion has been built and rebuilt several times to become a popular outdoor classroom and a venue where newlyweds forge their promises to have and to hold.

In 2001, Nokia (Philippines) Inc. sponsored the propagation and showcasing of hundreds of orchids in the garden. And with the revolutionary concept called "Mondays with Nokia", thousands of public schoolchildren were taken on special tours of the Orchidarium and given interactive lessons on ecology. Aside from plants, the children and their teachers were able to see and sometimes even interact with exotic animals such as the garden’s fame butterflies, kois, carps and pythons.

Alas, a garden near Manila Bay with its salty winds and in the center of one of the most polluted environs in the country is not the most ideal place for growing orchids. Something must be done in order to sustain the Orchidarium and its services to the public.

Sending a clear signal that it cares for the environment and the Filipino schoolchildren, Nokia again agreed to bankroll the 8,893 square meter Orchidarium’s latest upgrade.

One overriding objective for the ongoing radical make-over is the lack of an honest-to-goodness orchid research center in Metro Manila. While orchid shows are held regularly in parks and even in malls, these exhibits only allow for buying and selling with perhaps some workshops on orchid care. Exhibitors rarely allow their merchandise to be studied by those who are really interested.

This is unfortunate as the Philippines is considered to have among the world’s greatest diversity of orchids. The Clean & Green Foundation Inc., which runs the Orchidarium, dreams of a place where horticulture experts, gardening enthusiasts, researchers and ordinary students can go to conduct in situ (as in the wild) study of these jewels of the Philippine environment.

First to be accomplished was the sculpting of the garden’s tall trees to mimic how they would look like in the wild. An expected result was that the trees have become even more beautiful–not manicured lawn beautiful but rainforest beautiful. In-house experts are now identifying branches and nooks where particular species of orchids would be placed and where they would thrive in the right conditions, like in the wild.

Humidity-control modules are now being constructed to bump the garden’s moisture level to at least 50 percent. All these would be complemented by artificial streams, waterfalls and ponds where the koi and carp would still be found swimming. Mist generators will be positioned throughout the garden to recreate fog descending on the rainforest to water the orchids’ thirsty aerial roots when there is no rain or when the sun is too hot for their delicate flowers and leaves.

Another development that is sure to bring much delight to kids of all ages are the planned treehouse and hanging bridge with a snake pit underneath–surely a thrilling adventure to look forward to!

The Orchidarium intends to remain as Mother Nature’s resthouse in the heart of our country’s blighted capital city.

While garden venues proliferate in the metropolis to accommodate the increasing number of couples who dream of outdoor weddings, the new Orchidarium promises its future visitors the city’s nearest thing to a tropical rainforest. And while the government has already seen fit to bring visiting heads of state to the Orchidarium, Clean & Green foresees the enhanced garden to be an even bigger tourist attraction.

Another of the garden-rainforest’s objective is to propagate and encourage the planting of endemic trees.

"Most of us are no longer familiar with our native trees like katmon, tuai, bignay, tamayuan, bitaong," laments Clean & Green executive director Ime Sarmiento. "We don’t even know that the term ‘Philippine mahogany’ actually refers to six hardwood trees that are native to the country, like yakal, bagtican, guijo, apitong, red and white lauan and tangile. We want to re-introduce these native trees to our environment."

She explains that these native trees have been crowded out of our environment by exotic or non-native trees like the mahogany and gemelina usually planted in reforestation projects. Working with developers and landscape architects, the foundation hopes to see our streets and parks canopied with our native trees.

But just as important to the foundation and Nokia is the unique service the Orchidarium renders to the city’s youth, studentry and families.

The garden promises to offer more to its visitors in terms of fun and education when it fully re-opens its gates by mid-September. (The garden is actually open to visitors even now, although many of the areas under construction are blocked off. Admission in the meantime is reduced to only P20 from the usual P100.) There will be more exotic plants (including a "super collection of ferns, especially native ferns," Sarmiento enthuses), animals and bodies of water with which to teach students the value of ecological conservation.

The garden staff’s competencies for handling tours and workshops will be upgraded as well. There will be more ecology-based games and lessons to ensure that students will no longer look at Science classes as boring. As in the past, Nokia will be sponsoring these unique tours and interactive lessons for schoolchildren for free. The program will be known as "Nokia Reconnection at the Orchidarium".

And it’s not just the kids who will be having all the fun at the Orchidarium. The garden will soon be a Nokia outdoor activity center at the historic Rizal Park. Red letter days such as "Nokia Sundays" and "Special Events with Nokia" will also provide free or discounted admission to Nokia cellphone users. These activities will be special events that Nokia will be sponsoring as its own way of showing its gratitude to its millions of phone users.

Remember the old days when our "antique" Nokia phones had green screens? With the Nokia Orchidarium and Butterfly Pavilion, the Finnish telecoms giant is showing us that green never really left Nokia cellphones.

This partnership is re-forged when Nokia and C&GFI signs a new Memorandum of Agreement at the Filipinas Heritage Library on July 4 with no less than Nokia’s Country General Manager, Parikshit Bhasin and C&GFI‚s chairperson and the country‚s former First Lady Mrs. Amelita M. Ramos as signatories.

Things are ringing at the Rizal Park. And it is your new Nokia garden giving everyone a call.