DENR, private stakeholder to reforest DRT

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and a private stakeholder aims to boost reforestation efforts in Doña Remedios Trinidad, Bulacan by forging a pact for adoption of a 32.51-hectare area.

According to DENR Regional Executive Director Ralph Pablo, the agency and V On Wings, Inc. have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the adoption and greening of the said 32.51-hectare land.

The said land has graduated the National Greening Program (NGP) and will be planted with fruit trees, indigenous forest species, and timber trees.

“The adoption of a graduated NGP plantation is a significant step toward ensuring continuity of care for reforested areas. It emphasizes not only tree planting, but also maintenance, protection, and long-term stewardship,” Pablo said.

Under the MOA, the CENRO Baliuag will provide technical and scientific assistance in nursery establishment and maintenance, and seedling production.

For its part, V On Wings, Inc. will carry out rehabilitation, protection, and conservation measures essential to the project’s success by spearheading the planting, protection, and maintenance of the adopted plantation site and ensuring at least an 85% survival rate of planted trees for five years.

Pablo underscored the importance of collaboration with private stakeholders in adopting graduated NGP sites, noting that the initiative supports nature-based solutions for disaster risk reduction and management, as well as climate change adaptation and mitigation.

The NGP, launched in 2011 by the DENR, is a massive Philippine reforestation initiative aiming to plant 1.5 billion trees on 1.5 million hectares of public land to combat deforestation, reduce poverty, and enhance climate change mitigation.

It was later expanded (ENGP) via Executive Order No. 193 to cover 7.1 million hectares of degraded forestlands by 2028.