The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will plant 3 million trees in the Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape (UMRBPL) over the next three years to fast-track reforestation in the critical watershed.
The Forest Management Bureau (FMB) said the effort will increase forest cover in the area from 24.99 percent to 43 percent.
The 26,125-hectare watershed — covering Antipolo City and the Rizal towns of Baras, Rodriguez, San Mateo, and Tanay — was declared a protected area through Proclamation No. 296 on Sept. 26, 2011, two years after Tropical Storm Ondoy devastated Metro Manila and nearby provinces.
The proclamation aims to conserve biodiversity, protect water resources, and ensure sustainable use of natural assets.
Threatened and endangered tree species in the watershed include narra, red and white lauan, bagtikan, kamagong, and molave. Protected wildlife include the Philippine bulbul, black-naped oriole, jungle fowl, deer, wild pig, Philippine monkey, monitor lizards and forest frogs.
“The rise in closed forest cover shows that previously degraded areas are now thriving,” FMB Assistant Director Ray Thomas Kabigting said.
“With a 3-million tree target by 2028, the UMRBPL is becoming a model for climate resilience and conservation,” he added.
Kabigting said healthy forests are vital to climate mitigation, disaster risk reduction, biodiversity, and food security.
Since 2021, 45 companies and civic groups have partnered with DENR and local communities to rehabilitate 743 hectares of National Greening Program sites in the UMRBPL, DENR-Calabarzon Regional Director Nilo Tamoria said.
The UMRBPL Management Plan (2020–2030) also classifies the forested north as a Strict Protection Zone, restricting human activity except for scientific research and indigenous cultural practices.
