PLEDGES of participating agencies of the “Annual Million Tree Challenge” (AMTC), an initiative of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), exceeded its target for 2018.
In a statement, the MWSS said participants have pledged to plant over 1.2 million trees this year.
Tree-planting activities are carried out at the onset of the rainy season to ensure higher survival rate.
Administrator Reynaldo V. Velasco broke the news that the pledges exceeded the target during a meeting last week with concerned agencies and organizations.
This was attributed by the official to the positive response of participants to the AMTC to his appeal to firm up their commitments as they discuss the status on the tree-planting activities of AMTC, the watershed situation at the Ipo Watershed and La Mesa Dam, as well as other watershed matters.
“I am happy to report that for this year [2018] commitments to the AMTC by our partner agencies and other organizations have reached 1,284,500 million trees,” Velasco said.
“This is a welcome contribution to our program to sustain our watersheds, particularly during these times of unpredictable weather brought about by climate change and global warming,” he added.
Among the commitments for 2018 are from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Central Luzon, 350,000; MWSS, 100,000; Manila Water/ALKFI (ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation Inc.), 132,000; Maynilad Water, 130,000; the Department of Education, 100,000; Angat Hydro Power 100,000; and WWF, 50,000. The Free Masons Groups have also pledged their support to the AMTC.
Meanwhile, support for the AMTC is snowballing, Velasco said.
The Philippine Water Works Association (PWWA) on June 22, organized a tree-planting activity where 1,000 saplings were planted. The activity was attended by PWWA officers and board of directors, and students from Arellano University.
A tree-planting activity was, likewise, organized on June 25 by the DENR headed by Secretary Roy A. Cimatu.
Launched only last year, the AMTC surpassed its target of planting 1 million trees in 2017.
West Zone concessionaire Maynilad realized its commitment of 130,000 to help save the watersheds from denudation. The tree-planting activity of Maynilad is part of its “Plant for Life” program and is now being undertaken in support of the AMTC of MWSS. Plant for Life was started in 2009 and over 500,000 saplings had been planted by Maynilad and its volunteers at the Ipo Watershed in Bulacan.
East Zone concessionaire Manila Water, in collaboration with ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation Inc., has reforested La Mesa Dam.
Over the past 10 years, their combined efforts resulted in the planting of one million trees on the La Mesa watershed. Also, as part of its commitment to the AMTC, Manila Water nurtured and protected 86,000 trees.
The AMTC envisions the planting of one million trees for five years in support of the Duterte administration’s campaign to reforest the Philippines. It is aligned with the government’s Enhanced National Greening Program, one of the priority programs of the DENR. It specifically is for the benefit of six watersheds – Angat, Ipo, La Mesa, Laguna Lake, Marikina, and Umiray – vital water resources that need to be protected from floods and other natural disasters.
The DENR, the lead implementing agency of the ENGP, is shifting the focus of its massive tree-planting activities on the country’s critical watersheds in light of the P2-billion budget cuts it has experienced in the last two years that is charged against the ENGP’s annual budget.
There are a total of 143 critical watersheds in the Philippines.