Amid COVID, SNAP-Benguet Celebrates World Environment Month by Planting 2,500 Seedlings

June 22, 2020 Community Billboard

Renewable energy provider SN Aboitiz Powe r – Benguet (SNAP-Benguet) overcame COVID-19 associated challenges to conclude successful tree planting activities in celebration of World Environment Month.

Through its partnership with Tinongdan Indigenous People’s Organization, Inc. (TINPO), SNAP-Benguet facilitated tree planting activities in Camaya, Binga, and Tinongdan in Itogon, Benguet. Twenty-five (25) volunteers from the community were able to plant 2,500 coffee seedlings from June 5 to 11. For the health and safety of planters, physical distancing, regular sanitizing, and wearing of face masks were observed.

TINPO has been SNAP Benguet’s CSR project stakeholder since 2008. In 2019, an agreement was signed making TINPO an official sustainability partner of SNAPBenguet in the restoration and protection of the Ambuklao-Binga watersheds.

SNAP president and chief executive officer Joseph S. Yu said SNAP aims to contribute to the long-term protection of the watersheds in its host communities through various environmental programs and partnerships such as the Aboitiz flagship program APARK or Aboitiz Passion on Reforestation and Agroforestry to Keep, as well as tree planting activities with sustainability partners in the community.

“SNAP believes that if we ‘nurture nature’ we ‘nurture life’. Even in these challenging times, SNAP looks for ways to create positive action for the environment,” Yu added. To date, SNAP-Benguet has planted over 146,000 seedlings of various species for reforestation and agroforestry covering approximately 131 has. of land within the Ambuklao-Binga watershed in Benguet with an 87% survival rate since 2008.

Due to the constraints posed by COVID-19, only 27% of the planned 9,000 seedlings for the year have been planted. The remaining 6,500 seedlings are underway for distribution to SNAP Benguet’s other longtime partners, the Ambuclao Coffee Growers Association (ACGA) and Shakilan ni Ikulos Indigenous Peoples Organization (SNIPO).

SNAP-Benguet is a joint venture between SN Power of Norway and AboitizPower. It operates the 105-MW Ambuklao hydro in Bokod and the 140-MW Binga hydro in Itogon – both in Benguet Province.