KANANGA, Leyte- Various sectors of this town participated thru tree planting activity coinciding the third year of the supertyphoon “Yolanda” last November 8, 2016.
The activity, led by the municipal government headed by Vice Mayor Elmer Codilla, was joined by 400 participants and with the members of the Philippine National Police, Philippine Army, Department of Education, Liga ng mga Barangay and other organizations.
A short program was conducted at the Municipal Hall grounds at 5:30AM followed by the tree planting activity held at the downstream of Canawagan River, half kilometers away from the municipal hall.
Earlier, Mayor Codilla issued an executive order enjoining all the officials and employees of the local government unit, national government officers and personnel assigned in the municipality, civic organizations to participate the tree planting activity on November 8, 2016 to mark the third year commemoration of Yolanda that also hit the town.
In her order, she mentioned that Yolanda caused heavy destructions to important vegetation such as forest, trees and other vegetative cover in the town and knowing the importance of replenishing those damaged and uprooted trees, reason for the need to initiate the tree planting.
It was learned that aside from the yearly tree planting activity, the local government unit has an existing greening program which is in response to the program of the national government for the re-greening and restoration of our forest as a way of addressing the global warming caused by climate change.
The LGU greening program is an approach to reforest/ restore the degraded forest cover within the municipality, especially the priority sites such as riverbanks, or within the watershed.
Kananga sub-watershed is part of a bigger watershed which is Pagsangaan, and all projects within the sub-watershed needs to be consistent with the bigger plan which is to re-green, restore forest, and rehabilitate the environment, and this can be done through planting new trees to these areas
Sangguniang Bayan Member Macario Lumangtad Jr., who is currently the chairman of the committee on environment, said that the greening program of the LGU is handled by the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (MENRO) and the purpose is to increase the vegetative cover, mitigate climate change by expanding/ increasing forest cover that serves as carbon sink, plant trees in the identified priority sites of the locally-funded greening program, including timberland areas, degraded forestland, land of public domain/ and those areas within the public legal easement along the riverbank
.(GERARDO C.REYES JR.)
