Aetas pot 240,000 wildlings for greening program

By Oliver T. Baccay

Monday 17th of September 2012

BAGGAO, Cagayan, Sept 17 (PIA) -- A total of 262 Aetas living in the coastal zones of Cagayan have potted 240,000 wildlings, which will be utilized for the National Greening Program as contribution of the Process Luzon, a non-government organization in the province of Cagayan.

Romulo Sitchon, chief executive officer and president, said the greening program is by virtue of Executive Order 26 of President Aquino, enjoining also civil society organizations in the greening program and also by virtue of the partnership agreement signed between the Process Luzon, DENR, Foundation for the Philippine Environment, and the Philippine Tropical Forest Foundation.

In Valley Cove, Baggao; Sitchon said Aeta families have enjoyed potting wildlings of different species of trees to include Narra, Lauan, Tanguile, Guijo and Balobo.

Wildlings are those seedlings that have naturally grown in the forest, which are gathered and transferred into pots for tree planting purposes.

The wildlings were planted in an identified 480-hectare tree planting site within the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) area of the Aetas.

“We tapped them as our partners because the project will benefit them later because the greening program here is within their CADT area. We also encourage them to maintain and sustain the project because they are the very people living in the area,” Sitchon said.

He is very optimistic that the wide greening project will be maintained and sustained as they already got assurance from the indigenous people to take care of it, as well as to have constant monitoring from the composite team. (OTB/PIA-2)