Aumentado files resolution backing PNoy's campaign for1 billion trees

TAGBILARAN CITY , Philippines  - Representative Erico Aumentado of the second district of Bohol has filed House Resolution 1140, which maps out a strategy to ensure the province's response to the call of President Benigno Aquino III to plant one billion trees nationwide.

The resolution urges the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) to set up seed banks nationwide to ensure the availability of planting materials.

One way to do this, Aumentado said, is for DILG and DepEd to direct local government units (LGUs) and all schools under their respective jurisdictions to establish nurseries nationwide, which would include seed banks for fruit trees as add-on value to reforestation.

The one billion trees program is PNoy's strategy to reforest denuded areas in the country to combat global warming.

Aumentado's resolution also pressed senators and congressmen to allocate funding from their respective Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) for the program. The allocations can help finance the seed banks or nurseries of the LGUs and schools.

 "The strategy aims to hit global warming on the head. Global warming has generated the unpredictable weather condition worldwide, manifested in the El Niño and La Niña phenomena, natural disasters like typhoons, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, floods and landslides, among others, causing untold damage to human lives and property," Aumentado said.

Aumentado described the "One Billion Trees" project as a "laudable program that is visionary and deserving of support from Congress, all government line departments and agencies, as well as the private sector."

The resolution also specifies priority areas for tree planting, including watersheds, denuded forest zones, idle lands, areas not cultivated for agricultural purposes and vacant lots in areas classified as alienable and disposable, and others that would contribute to mitigate global warming, and provide sources for potable drinking water, irrigation and hydro power generation.

The program is not limited to the uplands. It also covers mangrove areas, provides habitat for fish and other marine life, serves as breaker against tsunamis and typhoons, as well as vital components of the marine ecosystem.