Elmer Recuerdo
PALO, Leyte – Media practitioners in Eastern Visayas joined the growing number of civil society groups, corporations and government and private agencies that are adopting the reforestation program of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
The Eastern Visayas Media Without Borders (EVMWB) and the 8th Infantry Division “Stormtroopers” Press Corps entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Barayong Upland Farmers Association and the Community Environment Natural Resources Office (CENRO) in Palo, Leyte on Friday, 28 April, for the reforestation of a five-hectare forest land in Barayong Village here.
CENRO chief Forrester Crisostomo Badeo said the assigned area for the media is a “graduated” site of the National Greening Program that was left to the community in 2012 when the three-year NGP funding for the site ended.
“Three years is not enough to ensure survival of the trees,” Badeo said. “We are very happy that there are other stakeholders like the EVMWB that are willing to take on these graduated sites to ensure the survival of threes.”
Under the MOU, the media group will do a replanting of trees in the area to cover for the seedlings that did not survive since 2012. It will also do a constant monitoring of the area in the next three years to ensure the survival of the trees.
Miriam Desacada, president of EVMWB and 8ID Press Corps, said that being a media practitioner does not limit their role as watchdog in the community but also extends their concern for the environment.
“Climate change is real and we have to work together and help the government in disaster mitigation measures like reforestation. We have seen the devastating effect of climate change such as Typhoon Yolanda being the most badly hit when it struck in November 2013,” she said.
Desacada said the adoption of the three-hectare graduated site of NGP is just a start of a long-term partnership with DENR in environmental projects. She said the group plans to expand the area in the next few years including adopting a site for a giant bamboo plantation.
Badeo said CENRO-Palo will provide the technical support to ensure the success of the project. He said the agency has allotted 1,500 seedlings of trees such as narra, lawaan, toog and other indigenous trees for the project. He mentioned eight other private and government entities that have signed up to adopt an NGP-graduated site.
EVMWB, a regionwide organization of media practitioners, has over 100 members composed of broadcasters, reporters from different radio, television and newspapers, media workers including technical staff and drivers of different media outlets.
Desacada said the group is also scheduled to conduct a coastal cleanup in May in partnership with the regional offices of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and Department of Labor.
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