Samar farmers to benefit from sustainable agriculture training from US, says UNDP
UNDP said the United States has extended a grant of US$480,000 to the Philippines to support the construction of 31 development projects in conflict-affected areas in Luzon and the Visayas.
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Avelino I. Razon said these projects will great enhance the peace-building program of the government in tandem with the UNDP.
The project is a joint effort of the UNDP’s Conflict Prevention and Peace Building Programme (CPPBP) and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP). Completion of these projects will be in 2011.
Razon said the projects are anchored on components such as policy and program development, capacity building and community empowerment.
They include studies on peace building efforts, a peace journalism workshop for media practitioners, healing and reconciliation seminars for social workers dealing with former rebels, training on sustainable agriculture for farmers in Samar, and construction of high school buildings in Iloilo, among others.
The CPPBP is one of four of the government’s collaborative programs with the UNDP and is being implemented by OPAPP.
It operates on a policy framework based on strategic partnerships with key government agencies, local government units (LGUs), civil society organizations, the academe and community-based peace builders.
The CPPBP hopes to mainstream peace building, conflict prevention, and human security in development processes; capacitate key actors to enable them to prevent, manage and resolve conflicts and to build peace and human security; and ensure that affected communities have improved access to basic services, increased income and increasingly participate in governance.
Nineteen project partners have been cooperating in the CPPBP. They are composed of eight civil society organizations, three academic institutions, and eight OPAPP units working with various LGUs.
Among these are Assisi Foundation, Concerned Citizens of Abra for Good Governance, Center for Public Resource Management, GZO Peace Institute, ILAWAN, Inc., Paghiliusa sa Paghidaet Negros (PsPN), Sulong CARHRIHL, Philippine Coalition to Protect Children Involved in Armed Conflict (Protect CIAC), Third World Studies Center, UP Visayas Foundation, Inc., and the Institute for Strategic and Development Studies. (PIA-Samar with bencal)
Feature: Binhi fulfills commitment to help combat climate change in RP
“Binhi” reinvents the whole idea of reforestation by rescuing and securing the native but endangered premium tree species in the Philippines. “Binhi” aims to bring back the vanishing trees by establishing Mother Trees in locations that will be protected and pampered by partners all over the 81 provinces of the country.
“Binhi,” is a greening program of Mr. Oscar Lopez, chairman of the Lopez Group, Inc., which started in December 2008 as part of the Lopez Family”s commitment to action in the Clinton Global Initiative and as EDC”s action to help combat climate change in the Philippines.
“Binhi” has a four-pronged strategy: the Tree for the Future or urban forestation of prime endangered Philippine Tree Species; Tree for Food or livelihood by re-vegetating open and denuded forest lands; Tree for Life or assisting natural regeneration by bridging forest gaps; and Tree for Leisure or on-site nature appreciation by sprouting ecotourism forest parks.
Under the Tree for the Future strategy, EDC will undertake forestation of prime endangered Philippine Tree Species. EDC shall grow a thousand forests from a single acorn planted and nurtured at the heart of the city, by the city folks themselves.
The target is the establishment of forest parks or urban reforestation in the 81 provinces of the Philippines.
The primary goal of Binhi”s Tree for the Future is for every Filipino to develop the passion to preserve and protect high value but endangered Philippine trees. Planting these vanishing hardwood species will also create awareness about such tree species as they will be propagated in public parks, school grounds, and leisure estates nationwide.
Sustainable partnership with the local government units, Department of Education, universities and colleges and non-governmental organizations and city-based groups is encouraged to be forged in this particular component. The partners will help safeguard the tree parks to ensure the survival of the endangered premium endemic species. This could very well be a great contribution to environmental preservation.
Every tree planted would have individual signboards indicating its unique features or story, for better appreciation of the public.
Under the Tree for Food Strategy, livelihood will be generated by re-vegetating open and denuded forest lands. Forest plantations or agroforestry farms under the Integrated Forest Management Agreement will be established in the five geothermal sites of Energy Development Corporation, Leyte, Albay/Sorsogon, Negros Oriental, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental and North Kidapawan.
“Binhi”s” Tree for Food component will establish a total of 5,000-hectare plantation over a period of ten (10) years or 500 hectares annually in these provinces. Tree for Food will engage farmers” associations and community organizations to cultivate tree farms in target areas such as denuded and logged-ever forest lands, open lands/grasslands, brushlands and inadequately stocked areas; and areas covered by Community-Based Forest Management Agreement (CBFMA) issued by DENR to people”s organizations (POs).
When the tree farms mature, the beneficiary organizations will share the proceeds from the sale of wood products while earmarking another amount to replant the harvested compartments of the plantation. This will be sustained by adopting a yield management scheme like rotation cutting.
Under the Tree for Life strategy, the EDC hopes to assist natural regeneration by bridging forest gaps. Rainforestation farming will be the centrepiece strategy of Tree for Life. EDC will bridge the forest gaps between important mountain systems to bring back the once robust biodiversity. Select areas will be designated as protection zones for conservation and biodiversity study with premier institutions like the University of the Philippines. These forest bridges will be grown to mimic the structure and function of natural systems.
Community involvement will be vital in Tree for Life. They will be partners from seedling production to maintenance and protection. Forest Bridges will be established in the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park (NSMNP) and the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park (MKNP).
Finally, the Tree for Leisure strategy aims for on-site nature appreciation by sprouting ecotourism forest parks. Tree for Leisure will preserve the natural beauty and ambience forests by designating them as ecotourism spots.
In collaboration with the Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Local Government Units (LGUs), EDC will convert select areas in its geothermal project sites into ecotourism destinations.
These geothermal ecotourism havens will encourage Filipinos to commune more often with nature, either for meditation, trekking, recreation or simply for relaxation – this while providing sanctuary to wildlife species.
For instance, EDC”s geothermal project site in Bacman has been ecotourism-certified by the DOT and it houses the world”s largest fruit bat that can only be found in the Philippines, the golden-crowned flying fox acerodon jubatus and the flying fox pteropus vampyrus.
Binhi is the Filipino word for germling, embryo or seed. In essence, Binhi aims to create a ripple effect by modeling a corporate green movement in the Philippine business community. (PIA 
