BUTUAN CITY – Officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) urged Caraganons to help protect the region’s rich bounty of natural resources by planting more trees “without let up” in support to the government’s Enhanced National Greening Program (E-NGP).
As the Agusanons and Surigaonons poured the ample time by strictly adhering to health protocols during the community quarantine by exploiting vacant areas and communal garden within their homes and premises, the DENR 13 also encouraged people to visit their offices spread in the five provinces and six cities for seedlings assistance in the continuing tree planting program.
“We can maximize our time by planting more trees in our vacant lands and idle lands,” DENR 13 Regional Executive Director (RED) Didaw D. Piang-Brahim.
Based on the DENR 13’s record here, more than 5.7 million seedlings were already planted in the E-NGP areas in Northeastern Mindanao or Caraga region last year.
The fast-rising province of Agusan del Sur has the highest number of seedlings planted among other provinces in Caraga region.
According to DENR 13 Assistant Regional Director (ARD) for Technical Services Forester Samuel Danganan, over the years, the region remains to have high-performance rating in the implementation of the NGP.
He said all the provincial and community environment and natural resources offices (PENROs, CENROs) spread in the five provinces and six cities are still in high gear in tree planting activities, along with their respective counterpart in the local government units (LGUs) and non-government organizations.
ARD Danganan noted the local communities’ continued support for the tree planting program.
“This activity is not only mitigating climate change and global warming but also the tree we plant today is for the next generation,” the official added. said program.
The DENR 13 officials here also announced their continuing forest protection and environment preservation drive in the remaining hot spot areas in the region.
“Not any sector of society can do it alone, not the government or private sector. Everybody has to collaborate to protect the nature and sustain it for the future generations,” also said RED Hadja Didaw Piang-Brahim.
The most high ranking DENR official in the region also commended the police, military and LGUs for their all-out support in the forest protection campaign in the region.
The police and military also continued their tree planting activities in their respective areas of responsibility, in support of the government’s E-NGP. (AORs).