20K SEEDLINGS AVAILABLE FOR PLANTING MONTHS

July 21, 2023 Metro BLISTT

BAGUIO CITY

City Environment and Parks Management Office (CEPMO) head Atty. Rhenan Diwas calls for tree planters as twenty thousand (20,000) pine and fruit seedlings are available in the city nurseries.
Three workers each in Busol and Botanical park nurseries make sure that from the eighteen thousand seedlings in January, and a drop of at least one thousand seedlings each in the months of May, June and July; the number of seedlings still increases.

According to Forester Floro Bastian, extra seedlings are produced as a buffer for trees destroyed or uprooted by storms, diseased and dead trees, and seedling mortality after outplanting. Tree planting is done yearlong, Bastian said, as trees now may be planted in homelots, work areas, and vacant lots. For individuals or groups who are willing to plant, the city provides free seedlings, but they should be nurtured to maturity, Bastian added.

At times, socio-civic groups adopt parks and plant trees or ornamentals as improvement. For now, planters are enjoined to sow trees as symbols of hope against climate change, as well as to celebrate
the 3rd Saleng Festival up to September, Diwas said. Trees yield oxygen, food and medicine, provide us shelter, shade and protection from storms and landslides, and preserve water, he further said. Tree seedlings from the Botanical and Busol nurseries are also part of the Tree PanTREE program of the Saleng Festival, where they are given free, even to neighboring local government units to jumpstart re-greening programs.

In an earlier forum, Mayor Benjamin Magalong pointed out that collaborative efforts work best in the fight against climate change and global warming. We help our neighbors re-green and revitalize the environment as we share the same environmental resources, he said. Earlier, LGU Kapangan,
Benguet requested through the MC Igorot organization and received one thousand pine tree seedlings for their reforestation program in far-flung areas.

For reforestation efforts in Baguio, Palawan Pawnshop through their branch operations manager Jennifer Reborura reserved the second Saturday of August for their planting date at the Busol Watershed. On July 26, the Parole and Probation Administration through their Chief Daisy Marie
Villanueva will plant trees at Burnham Park. This Saturday, July 22, Rotaract Club of Downtown
Session plant their trees at the Arboretum.

Last Saturday, July 15, the Baguio Sunrise Lions Club through Chapter President Mercedes Gutierrez planted at Scout Barrio, while last July 9, the Rotaract Club of Saint Louis University District 3790 converged to plant at Forbes Park #2. On the 33rd anniversary of the July 16, 1990 earthquake, Police Station 6, led by PMaj. Rommel Quinio planted commemorative trees at the
Busol watershed. The National Police Training Institute led by Police Lt. Col Avelino Garrido Jr. also scheduled tree-planting at the Botanical garden. – JGF with reports from the UFD-CEPMO.