DENR 11 targets rehabilitation of 25K has. of forests in Davao

By Cheneen R. Capon
THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 11 is targeting to rehabilitate a total of 25,000 hectares of forest area in Davao Region this year.
DENR 11 executive director Joselin Marcus E. Fragada said they are planning to implement the forest rehabilitation program under its annual National Greening Program (NGP).
“Our annual target is to rehabilitate 16,000 hectares annually, but the central office ordered the regional office to increase its target to 25,000 hectares because we will have a bigger budget for NGP this year,” Fragada said at a news conference.
Fragada said DENR 11 has savings from the supplemental budget last year that will be carried over this year.
“We are planning to plant a total of 8 million seedlings this year,” he said.
Seedlings to be planted by DENR 11 and partner private sectors include fruit bearing trees like cacao, coffee and rubber; and timber and mahogany seedlings.
For Davao City, a total of 4,300 has. of forest area will be rehabilitated this year.
“We are targeting districts of Paquibato, Marilog, Calinan and Toril to be planted with premium seedlings,” Fragada said.
Under the NGP, DENR 11 is required to identify more than 50 hectares of forest area that can be rehabilitated. The program aims to increase the forest cover of the region.
To date, DENR 11 has rehabilitated 51,000 has. or planted a total of 26 million seedling since the start of the NGP in 2011, according to Fragada.
“Our planted seedlings have a survival rate of 80 to 85 percent annually,” he said, adding that this is the basis of the national office in releasing the regional budget for NGP.
He also said the national government will be allotting P1 billion for massive planting of mangrove trees along the coastal area of the Philippines.
“For Davao Region, we are eyeing the coastal area in Davao Oriental which was recently visited by Typhoon Pablo,” Fragada said. “This is also for disaster resiliency and climate change mitigation.”
Fragada noted that the Davao Region has become a new route of typhoons in the past years, specifically in Davao Oriental and Caraga.
According to the DENR website, the NGP is defined as a “massive forest rehabilitation program of the government established by virtue of Executive Order No. 26 issued on February 24, 2011 by President Benigno S. Aquino III.”
The program seeks to grow 1.5 billion trees in 1.5 million hectares nationwide within a period of six years from 2011 to 2016. CRC