All Transport joins PBSP in Marikina watershed refo

Approximately 60 ATN employees garbed in working suits planted 625 seedlings of Cupang, Narra, and Dungon.

“Just as we want our company to be sustainable, we want the country where we live in to be sustainable as well,” ATN CEO Mary Lou Teano-Estrada said.

Meanwhile, the Marikina Watershed Initiative is originally launched by the Philippine Disaster Recovery Foundation (PDRF) last year. This was after Typhoon Ondoy destroyed thousands of properties and resources in 2009.

PBSP, PDRF’s proactive partner in the initiative, aims to contribute to the reforestation of 9,520 hectares of the 28,000 hectares of the watershed by 5 to 10 years. Hence, the denudation was regarded as the main reason for massive flooding.

According to Maria Kristia Bueno, PBSP project officer, “Awareness of the program is increasing but there is still in need of more support from private sectors to immediately achieve our goal to save and protect the watershed.”

Like ATN, interested companies can also give back to nature by supporting Adopt-a-Hectare or Adopt-a-Nursery project through a partnership with PBSP.

Aside from helping in the reforestation effort, these packages also provide alternative income to farmers living in the communities surrounding the watershed. These farmers are the primary manpower behind maintaining the implementation of activities.

The Adopt-a-Hectare Tree Planting Activity is ATN’s environmental involvement to celebrate its 25th anniversary. Also, the freight company recently participated in PBSP’s Brigada Eskwela which benefited Bagong Silangan Elementary School in Quezon City.