TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan (PIA) -- Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Region 2 recorded almost 93 million planted tree seedlings as an accomplishment of the government’s National Greening Program (NGP) in Cagayan Valley Region.

Regional Executive Director Gwendolyn C. Bambalan said there were already 116, 074 hectares of plantation areas reforested in the region, planted with forest and fruit-bearing trees as well as bamboos. 

She said that since the implementation of NGP in 2011, there have already been 355, 643 jobs generated and 63, 273 people employed. 

Bambalan also said the NGP attained its objective beyond reforestation as it contributed to the government’s poverty reduction thrust, food security, environmental stability, biodiversity conservation, and climate change mitigation. 

One of the notable impacts of the NGP, she added, was the assistance to unemployed and marginalized individuals through the provision of incentives to people’s organizations - the program’s primary partners in seedling production, site preparation, and planting. 

“We now have assisted several people’s organizations in the different provinces of the region. The members are now gaining because they were taught not only of producing seedlings but also of planting and sustaining NGP sites, especially those who practiced integrated farming where they planted both forest and fruit bearing trees,” she said. 

Bambalan also said the reforestation activities under the NGP is part of the efforts of the government in mitigating the impact of severe flooding that low lying areas in the region usually experience during the rainy season.

Editha Manuel, chair of the Green Valley Bical-Baliuag Upland Farmers Association - a people’s organization beneficiary of the NGP in Peñablanca, Cagayan, said they used to practice mono cropping, but with the technical assistance given to them by DENR, they were able to establish a plantation site of forest trees integrated with cacao, coffee, bananas and other fruit-bearing trees. 

“We are all farmers. Before, we only worked during planting season and waited for harvest time for us to have income. But with the NGP, we now have additional income. We developed by-products from our banana fruits, cacao, and coffee beans. We now sell banana chips, choco balls, and ground coffee,” Manuel narrated. 

The organization was able to establish 105 hectares of integrated NGP plantation sites.

On the other hand, Marcelo Gapan, also a farmer beneficiary, expressed his gratitude for the assistance of the government to his family through the implementation of the NGP. 

“I was one of the producers of seedlings that were planted in various NGP sites in the region. Through this, I was able to send my children to college and they are now professionals in different fields. That is why I am very thankful to this government’s initiative,” he said. 

In addition, there were 645 hectares of plantation areas established by the two mining companies in the region through the implementation of the Modified Tree Replacement Scheme. 

The scheme mandates Ocean Gold Philippines and FCF Minerals to establish, maintain, and sustain plantation sites in exchange for the trees that are being cut during their mining operations, Bambalan added. (OTB/PIA Region 2)