By Pinky Concha Colmenares
Toyota Motor Philippines chose to adopt a forest and to educate forest visitors on the value — and beauty — of nature.
The Adopt-A-Forest program started in August, 2012 at the Makiling Botanical Gardens in Los Baños, Laguna, where TMP adopted a 10-hectare forest and a 3-hectare lot where it nurtured a Palm Forest Garden.
Only on its eighth year, the program has achieved the ambitious aim to create a collaboration that supports sustainable management.
Within a 10-hectare adopted forest, efforts to cultivate appreciation for the environment has led to conservation; and spreading education has guided efforts to protect the environment.
Perhaps the only garden devoted to nurturing the palm tree, the 3-hectare lot now has 14 species in the living collection of the country’s palm trees.
The 10-hectare forest is well on its way to reforestation with four hectares now being the home of 26 species and 6,140 seedlings planted by TMP.
To enhance education on the need to protect our forests, the Toyota Environment Education Theater (TEET) was inaugurated in October, 2015 and 127,500 people use the facility annually.
As a result, Toyota’s forests have raised the environmental conservation awareness among the Toyota group through tree planting activities conducted regularly by TMP employees, dealer employees, Metrobank group, Toyota Foundation scholars, and students from adopted schools in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
Toyota’s efforts in preserving the environment have been supported by its partner agencies: Toyota Motor Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. & University of the Philippines Los Banos Foundation, Inc. (UPLBFI), through Makiling Center for Mountain Ecosystems- College of Forestry & Natural Resources.
TMP’s CSR program does not run out of volunteers from employees, dealers, suppliers, and students in schools where TMP facilities operate.
The initiative is supported by members of the Toyota Group, among them Toyota Motor Philippines Foundation, Inc. (TMPF) and Toyota Motor Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. (TMAP).