World Day Observance: Siquijor moves to stop desertification

CEBU, Philippines - A total of 1,500 guyabano tree seedlings have been planted in the bald areas of Larena and Enrique Villanueva towns in Siquijor, during the province’s observance of the World Day to Combat Desertification last June 17.

The tree planting or tree growing activity was spearheaded by the Department of Agriculture provincial office, as part of Siquijor’s support for the world-wide advocacy to stop the degradation of lands into a desert-like type, depleted of nutrients.

Agricultural Program coordinating officer Bernadith Bunado said: “Desertification is the degradation of land caused by factors such as climate change and human activities. The most common cause of desertification is over-cultivation of lands, which causes nutrients in the soil to be depleted faster than they can be restored. That is why I urged everyone to participate in this endeavor.”

Bunado said guyabano was the chosen fruit-bearing tree planted due to the fruit’s health benefits, one of which is its proven remedy for cancers, according to scientific studies.

Guyabano (soursop in English) is a tree called graviola in Brazil. This year, 4,000 guyabano seedlings are now ready for planting in Siquijor, which has been identified in the country as being a mass producer of guyabano and breadfruit.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala in his recent visit to the province supported this move as a way of addressing food security and for reforestation of the countryside.

Actress Chin Chin Gutierrez (whose real name is Maria Carminia Lourdes Cynthia Arnaldo Gutierrez)—also a famous environmentalist and ambassadress of agriculture—attended Siquijor’s observance of the World Day to Combat Desertification.

Gutierrez told The Freeman that Mother Earth must be restored from its serious degraded situation, and people must now take the initiative of planting trees.

“Not just plant a tree but make it a full-grown tree. We all know that vast of our fertile soil in the world becomes desert-type of soil and no longer productive for crops and livestock due to massive cutting of trees. This will eventually affect food production to feed millions of people worldwide,” said Gutierrez.

Another participant, PO1 Crispin Chong of the Philippine Coast Guard detachment in Siquijor, said: “While we are advocating for the protection of our coastal areas, we are also assisting initiatives in the hilly areas. Here in Siquijor, there are idle lands with desert-like soil condition due to non-presence of any trees.”

Mercy Cartajenas, manager of the Paglaum Multi-purpose Cooperative in Siquijor, joined the tree-planting, saying that the coop’s advocacy was not just to help people for their livelihood but to provide services to the community that can benefit also the next generation.

The theme of this year’s World Day observance was: “Healthy soils sustain your life: Lets go land-degradation neutral.”

Besides the DA-Siquijor officials and employees, those who participated in the tree planting were from the Coast Guard, the Larena Municipal Agriculture Office, the Paglaum Cooperative, and from the media partners The Siquijor Mirror, Siquijor Today, Philippine Information Agency and The Freeman. - THE FREEMAN