Aboitz plants 35T seedlings in nationwide tree planting

Aboitz plants 35T seedlings in nationwide tree planting 
The Freeman
August 8, 2011

Team members of Aboitiz Group companies planted an estimated 35,000 seedlings in different areas nationwide during their annual simultaneous tree planting last July 23.

In Cebu, more than 500 volunteers braved the muddy and sloping terrain in Barangay Pung-ol Sibugay in Cebu City to plant approximately 17,000 seedlings of indigenous trees on a nine-hectare land.

Other sites of the tree planting included Laguna, Rizal, Compostela Valley, Agusan del Norte, Manila, Subic, Davao, Albay and Maguindanao.

“We do not only plant trees for the sake of planting. We plant indigenous trees that support and complement local flora and fauna and support a healthier ecosystem … Remember that every seedling we plant is a gift to our planet and to our future generations.  We create a better world with every tree that we plant,” said Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. (AEV) President and CEO Erramon Aboitiz, who attended the Cebu leg of the activity.

Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) Executive Director Rafael Lopa, who was present in the activity, said, “We are dedicated to the reforestation of critically denuded protected watersheds in the country as a strategy to combat climate change and to reverse the loss of natural resources.  We will engage in more integrated watershed management projects … and continue partnering with you in the business community.” 
The Aboitiz Group and PBSP have been partners in implementing various social development projects.

The volunteers came from the following Aboitiz Group companies: AEV; AboitizPower; Pilmico Foods Corp.; Pilmico Animal Nutrition Corp.; Union Bank of the Philippines; City Savings Bank; Davao Light & Power Company, Inc.; Cotabato Light & Power Company; Visayan Electric Company, Inc.; Mactan EnerZone Corp.; Balamban EnerZone Corp.; Aboitiz Land Inc.; Cebu Industrial Park Developers, Inc.; Metaphil International; Therma Marine Inc.; Aboitiz Jebsen; SN AboitizPower; Hedcor, Inc.; APRI; and Aboitiz Foundation, Inc.  

Volunteers from Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc., Aboitiz Future Leaders Business Summit, Banilad Night High School, and Aboitiz Race To Reduce runners also took part in the event.

The simultaneous tree planting is part of AEV-Sustainability Team’s Aboitiz Passion for Reforest and Agroforest to Keep (APARK), a Group-wide biodiversity enhancement program that seeks to plant 3 million trees nationwide by the year 2015.

“Since we began our simultaneous tree planting two years ago, I am pleased to inform you that our partners have reported a 90% - 95% survival rate for trees we planted in Aloguinsan in 2009 and in Barangay Sayaw last year,” Aboitiz said.