DENR-7, academe break ground for clonal nursery in NegOr

By Hazel F. Gloria

Sunday 2nd of September 2012

CEBU CITY, Sept. 2 (PIA) --- The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-7), Negros Oriental State University (NORSU) and city government of Guihulngan have set up a three-hectare clonal nursery and bamboo tissue culture facility at the NORSU-Guihulngan City campus in Negros Oriental.

DENR-7 regional executive director Dr. Isabelo Montejo said this P3.5M proposed facility is purposely initiated jointly with NORSU to generate superior quality of indigenous or native forest tree species to augment the necessary quality seedlings' requirements for the national greening program (NGP) for six years.

Montejo urged the local officials and the academe to gather endemic species found in the province preferably in the forests of Bindoy, Ayungon and Guihulngan since these are the only remaining forests with a variety of native species.

“This will also enrich or enhance the learning experience of the students as they are able to apply and demonstrate what they have learned in theory on forestry particularly on tree cloning,” Montejo added.

Guihulngan mayor Ernesto Reyes congratulated DENR and NORSU for coming up with a very innovative and creative clonal nursery facility to produce as many quality indigenous planting materials by not just relying on the natural way but also maximizing the existing clonal technology.

NORSU President Dr. Don Vicente Real on the other hand promised to give full support for the completion of the project stressing on the positive contribution of the facility not only to their students, to the people in the province but more so to the environment.

As part of the event and to detect illegal logging activities, Philippine Air Force (PAF) with the 11th Infantry Battalion, Philippine National Police (PNP), DENR representative and Negros Oriental State University-Guihulngan City Campus officials conducted an aerial surveillance in the municipalities of Ayungon, Tayasan, Jimalalud, La Libertad, Guihulngan City and Vallehermoso. (mbcn/HFG/PIA-7 & DENR-7)