Globe, CCT ‘create forests’ in Vizcaya, Ifugao, Benguet

This year promises to be even busier for the forest builders of the Cordillera mountain range as Globe Telecom and the Cordillera Conservation Trust (CCT) gear for the creation of 21 mother forests and the establishment of 30 seedling nurseries in remote schools around Mt. Pulag in Nueva Vizcaya, Ifugao, and Benguet.

Funding for the nurseries will come from the P1.3 million in donation made by some 500 bikers who joined the Globe Cordillera Challenge 4 in May as well as from Globe employees and concerned individuals who want to save the Cordilleras from further denudation.

Last year, Globe was able to raise P800,000 for 21 seedling nurseries under the Roots & Shoots program of CCT in order to produce seedlings for tree planting purposes with the end goal of creating a mother forest in each of the site.

“We are excited to see more seedling nurseries in the Cordilleras.  It takes time to rebuild the forests but slowly, we would be able to help resuscitate the mountains after having suffered from prolonged environmental destruction.  For Globe, supporting the environment is an integral part of doing business that is why we continue to invest in the environment and its protection and preservation,” said Yoly C. Crisanto, Head of Globe Corporate Communications Division.

Right now, the volume of water efficient trees is not sufficient for the requirements of the mountain range.  Added to this problem is the huge cost of buying and hauling saplings to remote areas, thus, the decision to come up with seedling nurseries within the communities themselves.

The seedling nurseries are in support of the enhancement of community watershed and a way to prevent landslides in critical areas in the Cordillera mountain range.  They will, likewise, provide a possible livelihood source for the public elementary schools and the communities where they will be housed.

Labey Elementary School in  the remote province of Bokod, Benguet was almost wiped out of existence when it got buried under tons of mud after the devastation caused by Typhoon Pepeng in 2009.  Upon repair and rehabilitation, the school was chosen to house the first seedling nursery under the Roots and Shoots program of Cordillera Conservation Trust (CCT) two years later.

“Back when typhoon Pepeng hit us, we really felt down. The school was covered in mud and we also had to repair most of what was broken. Then Globe and CCT came along and gave us the seedling nursery. Up to now, we take care of the seedlings that were planted. We made it a project of the community including all the students, parents, teachers and officials of the barangay. We thank those who have thought about this,” said Beatrice Perez, Tanod of Barangay Ambuklaw and one of the caretakers of the seedling nursery in Labey.

The creation of the Roots and Shoots nurseries was three fold. First to produce seedlings for forest building; second to educate the young on the importance of the forests and have them play an active role in the rebuilding and maintaining of these forests; and third, to create protected mother forests around the community from which they would obtain seeds to propagate the next generation of forests.

“In 2012, we have in some ways achieved the first two of these objectives so this year, the creation of protected mother forests will become a primary area of work. We look forward to further streamlining this system and implementing improvements from the learnings of 2012.It will definitely be a busier year but even now we are already starting to see more of the green,” said JP Alipio, Executive Director of CCT.

 The Cordillera mountain range is currently in a critical state as rampant deforestation massively reduced the forest cover to about 42 percent.  This increased the local communities’ vulnerability to disasters and also reduced their capacity to sustain livelihood. The situation prompted Globe to come up with the Globe Cordillera Challenge four years ago to raise the much-needed funds for reforestation activities.