San Miguel Corp. (SMC) said its power unit is set to plant 1.1 million seedlings this year as part of the seven-year upland and mangrove forest rehabilitation initiative.
The company said Project 747 led by SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. was first launched in 2019 and has so far planted a total 1,994,988 seedlings and propagules over 620 hectares of land as of December 2020.
The program is set to cover a total of 4,000 hectares of land in more than seven provinces in the country.
“Last year, because of pandemic restrictions, we were only able to plant 900,000 trees and mangroves. This year, we intend to make up for it by planting 1.1 million trees, when the rainy season starts,” said Ramon Ang, SMC president and chief operating officer, in a statement.
Ang said the program also serves as a carbon sequestration mechanism to help mitigate climate change and capture carbon dioxide as it will involve the rehabilitation of 2,800 hectares of upland forests and 1,204 hectares of mangrove forests in Pangasinan, Zambales, Bataan, Bulacan, Quezon, Albay, Negros Occidental and Davao Occidental.
Ang added local farmer groups and fisherfolk organizations are also involved in the program especially in the identification of indigenous tree varieties to be planted in their respective areas and in the implementation of planting and livelihood initiatives to ensure high survival rates of young trees.
He noted survival rates of planted seedlings and mangrove propagules are at an average of 89 and 91 percent, respectively.
SMC said tree varieties in the upland plantation are Narra, Molave, White Lauan, Palosapis, Agoho, Batino, Igang, and Malabayabas while mangrove varieties planted include Bakawan Babae, Bakawan Lalaki, Bungalon, and Api-Api. -J. Macapagal
