The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has inked a five-year agreement with the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and three major firms in the industry sector for the rehabilitation of the Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape (UMRBPL) under the Expanded National Greening Program (ENGP).
In a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the DENR-Region 4A (CALABARZON), 70 hectares of ENGP-graduated sites inside UMRBPL will be sustained and protected by GSIS, together with D.M. Consunji Inc. (DMCI), Toyota-Oben Group of Dealers (TOGD), and Meralco Industrial Engineering Services Corporation (MIESCOR) .
Ramil Limpiada, DENR-Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer (PENRO) for Rizal, said that ENGP-graduated areas are previously established NGP plantations that need assistance from government institutions and private sector partners.
“These ENGP-graduated sites are areas turned-over to the DENR by the people’s organizations and local government units after fulfilling their three-year site development contracts to raise tree plantations,” Limpiada said.
The adopted sites under the five-year agreement comprised four separate ENGP areas in Sitio San Ysiro, Brgy. San Jose in Antipolo City, which the DENR has set aside for the “Adopt-a-Site Program” to ensure continued maintenance and protection of the ENGP sites under a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) scheme.
“Common to these four areas is they are the most challenging to maintain and protect in their respective NGP plantation sites, owing to their location. Really, we cannot do it alone and we need your help,” Lampiada told DENR partners during the agreement signing on March 28.
Launched in 2011 through Executive Order (EO) 26, the six-year National Greening Program (NGP) aimed to reforest 1.5 million hectares of denuded forestlands in the country.
It was extended until 2028 under EO 193–now known as the ENGP—for the continuation of reforestation efforts in the country’s remaining degraded forestland.
Under the MOA, GSIS committed to provide funds for the maintenance and protection of 56 hectares within a 1,000-hectare NGP tree plantation, while MIESCOR will adopt a one-hectare site within a 1,000-hectare ENGP plantation site. Both sites were established in 2013.
Meanwhile, DMCI and TOGD adopted 10 and three hectares, respectively, within a 250-hectare NGP graduated site established in 2012.
The private firms will initially shell out P3.1 million, of which P2.01 million will come from GSIS; P360,000 from DMCI; P108,000 from TOGD; and P36,000 from MIESCOR to cover preparatory activities such as seedling production plantation enhancement and maintenance and protection activities.
They are also expected to prepare and submit, “one month after execution” of the MOA, their respective Annual Development Plan (ADP) for 2021-2025, including their respective Annual Work and Financial Plan (AWFP) for the same period.
The ADP and AWFP give a detailed accounting of costs and corresponding activities to be implemented by the Malayang Samahan ng Mga Katutubo ng Antipolo City (MASAKA) Inc. whose members represent about 180 households of Dumagat-Remontado living within the adopted areas.
The MOA also cited a provision allowing for the extension of the undertaking for another five years or more “upon completion of the development activities of the project as stipulated in the five-year development plan.”
MASAKA chairperson Jimmy Garcia said only indigenous tree species will be raised in the nurseries consisting mostly of Narra (Pterocarpus indicus), Apitong (Dipterocarpus grandiflorus), Antipolo (Artocarpus blancoi), Tuai (Bischofia Javanica), and Kalumpit (Terminalia microcarpa).
“May mga inaalagaan kaming mga mother trees na mataas ang kalidad ng mga buto na aming kinokelekta at pinanalalaki bilang mga tree seedlings (There are superior mother trees we have been taking care of as a source of seeds which we raise to become tree seedlings),” Garcia said.
Under the MOA, MASAKA will prioritize the employment of indigenous peoples and members of organized upland communities within the vicinity. ###
