The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has called for more private sector participation in the Enhanced National Greening Program (ENGP), after securing partnerships with two more firms last week.
Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said the government has made it easier for the private sector to join the ENGP by issuing last year DENR Administrative Order 2019-03, which allows firms to enter into public-private partnerships through the establishment of new plantations, maintenance and protection of existing plantations and protection of existing forests outside ENGP areas.
Last week, the DENR inked partnerships with Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. (MMPC) and SteelAsia Foundation Inc. (SAFI) to collaborate efforts in planting and nurturing trees.
The partnership with MMPC will involve reforestation activities within a 30-hectare forestland at Barangay Kapatalan in Siniloan, Laguna, while SAFI will cover 23 hectares of forestland at Barangay Dayawan in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental.
The two companies agreed to allocate funds to cover the five-year implementation of various activities including site preparation, seedling production or procurement and maintenance and protection of the established plantations and their surroundings.
The DENR, for its part, will identify and delineate the forestlands and determine the indigenous tree species to be planted, establish the mode of plantation and protection and maintenance of the areas covered by the agreement.
The agency will also choose jointly with the companies the people’s organizations or communities that will plant and nurture the seedlings in the next five years.
Established in 2015, ENGP seeks to cover the remaining 7.1 million hectares of open, degraded and denuded forests in the country from 2016 to 2028.
