IN ramps up re-greening program

By Leilanie G. Adriano

Staff Reporter

Solsona, Ilocos Norte—By 2017, or three years from now, there shall be no barren public land without trees, at least in the 21 towns and two cities of Ilocos Norte.

This, according to the Environment and Natural Resources Office (ENRO), will be realized as hundreds of barangay ranger officers (BROs) were contracted by the Ilocos Norte government, deploying them in various parts of Ilocos Norte highlands to plant more trees and at the same guard the mountains from illegal cutting of trees including the traditional practice of kaingin (slash and burn farming) which contributes to further environment degradation.

A province-wide re-greening program kicked-off in this town on June 2013 with more than a hundred BROs deployed in areas with critical watersheds and denuded forest to plant fruit bearing trees such as coconut, rambutan, lansones, duhat and many others including forest trees like narra, bittaog, mahogany and gmelina among others.

In Solsona, more than 1,000 hectares of barren lands located along the mountainous Solsona-Apayao road were already planted with forest trees and fruit-bearing trees, said Estrella Sacro, National greening program project manager of the ENRO.

“We hope that by 2017, the thick forest cover of Ilocos Norte will be back to normal to prevent flooding and help mitigate the impact of climate change,” Sacro said.

Dubbed as “Pasantaken ti Ilocos Norte (Cultivating or building Ilocos Norte”), the said project is meant to revive denuded mountains and critical watersheds and at the same time provide additional livelihood to the marginalized sector.

“Dakkel a yamanenmi ta naikkankami iti gundaway nga agobra ken mangpasayaat iti kabambantayanmi aglalo iti lugarmi a Maan-anteng,” said Efren Domingo, a barangay ranger officer.

He narrated that they used to hunt wild animals for a living in the thickly forested area but these are already becoming extinct as illegal cutting of trees and kaingin became rampant.

Climbing up and down the hill to plant tree saplings is all worth it when you see your plants growing, said another BRO saying, “No agbiag dagiti immulam, maragragsakanka met ta makaay-ayoda a kitkitan. Makatulongka pay iti pannakatagipen iti aglawlaw,” said Nelie Bago, a widow of three from Brgy. Maan-anteng.

Bago together with a hundred of BROs in Solsona town take turns in planting trees while also monitoring the area and apprehend any persons doing illegal activities such as cutting of trees and those who are still practicing kaingin.

Edwin Carino, head of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) program of the Ilocos Norte government said that the provincial government’s re-greening program is one way of generating more jobs to alleviate poverty and environment preservation as a form of investment for the future.

Aside from Solsona, other local government units here in cooperation with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources have expanded their re-greening program in major thoroughfares and various barangays.