Collective support for Cebu Hillylands refo grows
PBSP is a corporate-led foundation that advances its platform for collective engagements for businesses to get involved in national agendas for the environment, livelihood, education, and health.
The reforestation caravan’s theme, “We don’t just plant trees, we let them grow,” focuses on how well the trees have grown despite the many issues of climate change and illegal logging.
This year, PBSP aims to plant 15,000 native and endemic tree seedlings on a series of tree planting activities set to run for 18 Saturdays starting June 23 up to October 20 in Sitio Cantipla 2, Barangay Tabunan, Cebu City.
The forest has been undergoing this systematic rejuvenation since 1991 when the project started. “It is the first project by PBSP to involve not only the business sector but also volunteers,” said Reggie Barrientos, PBSP corporate affairs associate in the Visayas.
During tree planting sessions, the employee volunteers will apply the technology of vermicomposting, strip brushing, ring weeding, and replanting of damaged trees. The planted trees are regularly maintained by the communities surrounding Cebu Hillylands.
The Central Cebu Protected Landscape (CCPL) is metro Cebu’s web of life, “It provides water to thousands of residents and is home for Cebu’s endemic species,” said Eileen Mangubat, chairperson of PBSP Visayas Hillyland Development Committee.
The 28,000-hectare area that PBSP is reforesting includes the watershed for metro Cebu. The forested uplands that comprise the watersheds are important to cities as these supply sustainable water and regulate flooding. These forests are already heavily degraded and have been depleted in the past when the city was overdeveloped as the main Asian trade port. PBSP claims to reverse the natural loss by conserving, protecting, and rehabilitating the Cebu Hillylands.
The reforestation caravan also ensures biodiversity in its forests by protecting species such as the Cebu black shama, Cebu cinnamon tree, and the Cebu Flower Pecker which is one of the top ten most endangered species in the world.
In the duration of PBSP’s reforestation effort, the Biodiversity Conservation Foundation reported that most of these species have reappeared. “This shows how successful the reforestation program has been,” explained Lisa Paguntalan of the Philippine Biodiversity Conservation Foundation, Inc. (PBCFI).
Part of the caravan is a storytelling session for children on how to plant and take care of trees. There were also “green clinics” that provided volunteers with mini-lectures, a pop quiz on environment by PBCFI, and a session on wildlife photography and bird watching by Godfrey Jakosalem.