​The government should empower communities to become stewards who take care of the environment--that is, if it wants its reforestation programs to succeed.

Thus, said Rizal 4th district Rep. Fidel Nograles in a statement on Wednesday, April 23.

Nograles believed that the success of the government's ongoing reforestation program depends on its continuity. He notes that there is not enough manpower to tend the areas reforested under the administration's flagship greening program—the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)'s Forests for Life: Five Million Trees by 2028.

"What happens after the government and private sector partners have planted the seedlings? We still have to ensure that these will survive and grow into actual trees, and only then can we call the program a real success," he said.

“As it is, we already have manpower challenges. Sa bilang ng foresters at forest rangers pa lang, kapos na kapos na tayo (Based on the numbers of our foresters and forest rangers, we're already lacking),” he added.

Data from the Society of Philippines Foresters (SPF) show that as of 2021, the country had only around 14,000 registered foresters ­for approximately 7.2 million hectares of forest area. This equates to just one licensed forester for every 514 hectares, according to Nograles.

Based on the 2022 Philippine Forestry Statistics, there are only 7.22 million hectares or 24.07 percent of the country’s land mass left of forest cover in the country. This is a drastic decline from 17.8 million hectares worth of forest cover in 1934, which has spurred the government to embark on its regreening program, he added.

Nograles then urged the DENR to carefully study the program’s implementation to ensure it does not fail like the regreening efforts of past administrations.

“We have to be targeted and systematic in our approach, and carefully study why the regreening efforts of past administrations have failed so we do not repeat the same mistakes,” he said.