The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines announced it has partnered with a subsidiary of Globe Telecom Inc. to plant 20,000 seedlings within the Ipo watershed before this year ends as part of an ongoing program to rehabilitate one of the country’s important raw-water reservoir.
In a statement, WWF Philippines said its project, which began June last year, seeks to rehabilitate the watershed, located in Norzagaray, Bulacan, which supplies 96 percent of water to Metro Manila. The planting at Ipo watershed is part of the group’s overall goal to plant 365,000 seedlings across the country, with 120,000 committed to the slopes of Ipo watershed.
The group said restrictions imposed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic have made it difficult to continue with tree-planting activities. The organization said it is currently exploring ways to proceed without endangering its staff and the local communities. There have been no cases in Ipo watershed so far.
“Now more than ever, we can see that protecting Ipo watershed is vital not just because it ensures that there is a reliable water supply for Metro Manila, but because it keeps foreign diseases at bay. By protecting these forests, we reduce the chances of another pandemic,” WWF-Philippines’s Paolo Pagaduan was quoted in a statement as saying sans citing scientific studies.