Reforestation projects that plant foreign, exotic tree species such as mahogany, acacia or raintree or Gmelina instead of native trees, may do more harm than good as non-indigenous tree species tend to invade and destroy the forests’ biodiversity, the Energy Development Corp. (EDC) said.
The EDC said the tree population in the country’s forests began a steady decline in the 20th century with rampant logging activities. In recent decades, various organizations embarked on greening efforts to plant thousands of trees through environment-focused programs.
EDC has embarked on a species conservation program—Binhi Tree for the Future—which aims to rescue and secure the gene pool of our country’s most premium threatened native trees to help preserve the Philippine forests’ biodiversity. Since 2008, Binhi and its partners have planted more than 4,700 future mother trees.
The Binhi program, which started in 2008, selected 96 priority threatened species from more than 3,600 native tree species. A science-based classification system was used to determine priority native tree species that are threatened but have superior mechanical strength, high economic and aesthetic value.
Among these 96 priority threatened species are Malinoag, Philippine teak, Batikuling, Yakal-yamban and the five endemic iron wood species Mangkono, Mapilig, Bagoadlau, Sierra Madre mangkono and Palawan mangkono which can only be found in the Philippines.
But identifying and searching for the seriously threatened native tree species is only the start of a five-year grueling task for Binhi. Equally challenging yet rewarding are species rescue and protection, propagation, and continuous establishment of future mother trees.
Rescuing endangered premium native tree species meant narrowing down vast jungle areas by consulting scientific literature, taxonomy and forestry experts, and using local knowledge.
Once the wildlings are banked and secured, they are grown to produce cuttings in state-of-the-art nurseries. Full-grown seedlings are introduced to real-world forest conditions and planted in school campuses, biodiversity parks and arboretums.