Aklan guv urges tree planting to support Noynoy’s NGP
BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

KALIBO, Aklan – Governor Carlito Marquez has lauded the national greening program (NGP) of President Benigno Aquino III in the efforts to protect the environment and to conserve biodiversity throughout the country.

Marquez said the launching of this program in the barangays of Pook and Andagao will encourage the people in the communities to plant trees.

“We have to plant trees to survive, to address climate change and to provide livelihood opportunities in the communities,” the governor said in his Governor’s Report to the People aired by Kalibo Cable Television Network at the Provincial Guest House last Friday.

Engr. John Kenneth Almalbis of the Aklan Environment and Natural Resources Office (AKENRO) said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is the lead agency in the implementation of the national greening program. The National Convergence Initiative is also composed of the Department of Agrarian Reform and Department of Agriculture.

“The launching of the program in Lambingan Beach mangrove area is an initial step to ensure food security and poverty reduction. Under Executive Order No. 26 of President Aquino, all government line agencies, employees and NGP volunteers are mandated to plant at least ten seedlings every year in six years,” Almalbis said.

Almalbis said the forest-agro components will be directly benefited by the reforestation efforts of the national government, which is a priority project of President Aquino in partnership with state colleges and universities and the private sector to plant 1.5 billion trees by the end of Mr. Aquino’s six-year term by 2016.

Almalbis stressed the DENR targets to plant 251,000 seedlings on 502 hectares of land in Aklan. He said the governor committed to provide seedlings from the provincial nursery in Barangay Nalook in Kalibo, Aklan to sustain the massive reforestation program.

Meanwhile, President Aquino has declared the year 2011-2020 as the National Decade on Biodiversity in the country to increase public awareness on the values of biodiversity and promote actions at the national, regional and local levels for the country’s rich natural heritage.