Leyte project gets huge boost

TACLOBAN CITY — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) signed a three-year agreement with energy producer Energy Development Corporation (EDC) and a local farmers’ association to rehabilitate 60 hectares of degraded forestland in Capoocan, Leyte.

DENR regional executive director Arturo Salazar, EDC assistant vice president Allan Barcena, and leaders of the Visares and Sto. Niño Farmers Association sealed the partnership to plant and cultivate 45,000 native tree seedlings in Barangays Visares and Sto. Niño.

The initiative supports the DENR’s “Forests for Life: 5 Million Trees by 2028” program, a national campaign launched in March 2025 aimed at restoring 15,508 hectares of degraded land, strengthening flood mitigation, and sequestering an estimated 3.5 million tons of carbon by 2038.

Leyte is among the primary target sites, alongside Ilocos Norte, Rizal, Bataan, Bukidnon and Lanao del Norte.

The restoration site consists of grassland, brushland and open-canopy forest. Project teams will prioritize indigenous species well-suited to the local soil and terrain, including Hindang, Yakal and Lauan.

Under the agreement, EDC will fund and support seedling production through its long-running BINHI environmental program, while VISFA members will propagate, plant and protect the trees against illegal encroachment.

Field workers will apply assisted natural regeneration techniques in open-canopy areas to encourage existing indigenous vegetation, supported by joint monitoring to ensure high seedling survival rates over the three-year period.