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NTA targets to plant 1 M tree seedlings in synchronized tree planting
TO mark its 27th founding anniversary, the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) will lead synchronized tree-planting activities in various areas in Regions I, II, and in the provinces of Abra and Occidental Mindoro on July 30.
At least 1 million tree seedlings are expected to be planted during the simultaneous inter-agency and inter-sectoral tree planting activity spanning an equivalent area of 500 hectares of public land in selected tobacco-growing areas.
Heads of different national agencies and local government units, including volunteers from different schools, and government and private groups, are invited to join NTA officials and employees from its eight provincial branches in the one-day activity.
NTA branch/field offices have just completed the survey and registration of participants, including the greening area or sites to be planted by each participating group.
The command center and ceremonial planting site will be at Narvacan North Central School in Sitio Limmansangan, Margaay, Narvacan, Ilocos Sur.
The regreening project is part of the agency’s effort to contribute its resources towards ecological restoration, in line with the government’s National Greening Program (NGP).
According to NTA Administrator Edgardo D. Zaragoza, the tobacco industry is one of the biggest users of fuelwood. “To restore and manage the environment, the NTA initiated this effort last year to unify all partner agencies and industry stakeholders,” he said.
The NTA started its regreening project in tobacco areas in 2013, where a total of 551,600 seedlings of acacia, neem, narra, mahogany, Gmelina and giant ipil-ipil were planted to tobacco-growing communities. Over 85,000 farmers, students, and employees of different government agencies and the private sector participated in the activity.
Zaragoza expected a bigger turnout of volunteers and wider greening sites this year.
The tree-planting activity is supplementary to the NTA’s livelihood assistance under its Kahuyang Pangkabuhayan at Pangkalikasan (KPP) module, a component of its Renewable Fuelwood Energy Farm Development Project and Restoration of Ecological Integrity program.
The seedlings are sourced from the seedling nursery and fuelwood and bamboo farms managed by KPP farmer-availees, clusters, and farmer cooperatives/organizations, under the supervision of the NTA branch office in the area.
“This is our way of returning the favor to our farmer cooperators by providing them sources of income through seedling production and planting of trees for fuelwood purposes,” Zaragoza said.
For its KPP module this year, the agency targets 6 million tree seedlings or plants a total area of 2,000 hectares in tobacco-growing areas.
This is about double of last year’s 3.2 million seedlings planted to an area of 1,357 hectares.
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