PLANTING THE WRONG TREES

PLANTING THE WRONG TREES About ten years ago, the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) convinced many farmers in the La Trinidad and Benguet areas to plant tobacco. NTA even invested in a large warehouse and office in La Union for storage and logistics purposes. Eventually, it was discovered that the lands were not suitable for tobacco. Because of that, the farmers went bankrupt, and the warehouse became a white elephant. About six years ago, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) implemented a National Greening Program (NGP) with the goal of planting millions of trees in selected mountainous areas. Sad to say, the program failed, and the DENR lost millions of government funds. Some say that corruption was the cause of the failure, but other than that, I say that the cause could be planting the wrong species in the wrong places. Even up to now, the DENR appears to be planting the Bakhawan variety of mangroves everywhere, thinking perhaps that this variety could grow everywhere. Either that, or the DENR officials are not aware that there are many other varieties of mangrove, and not all varieties could grow everywhere. In other words, certain varieties are suitable only in certain places, depending on the quality of the soil and the water as well. Very recently, the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI) announced that they will be planting "native trees" in the barren mountains of Cebu Province, citing coffee and cacao as their chosen species. When I reported the matter to Imelda Sarmiento of the Philippine Native Plants Conservation Society, she was shocked, because she was very sure that these two plants are not native to the Philippines. It was also announced that RAFI will be planting Narra trees, thinking perhaps that these are "native trees" as well. They are not exactly wrong, but technically, Narra is more properly classified as an "indigenous tree". What that means is that Narra grows in the Philippines, but it also grows in other areas such as Southeast Asia, India and Australia. Fortunately, RAFI did not make the mistake of choosing Mahogany. Despite the fact that this tree is sometimes called "Philippine Mahogany", it is not native to the Philippines and is even classified as an invasive species. It is said to cause harm to the real native trees by chocking them out of resources such as water, and it tends to limit the growth of wildlife around it. IKE SENERES/06-27-2024