EMPLOYEES of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) planted 80,000 high-quality hardwood and fruit-bearing trees to rehabilitate a watershed forest reserve in Quezon damaged by a series of flashfloods and landslides in 2004.
Known as PLDT TelePuno, the five-year project planted narra and lipote seedlings in the 80 hectares of common watershed between the connected coastal towns of Infanta and Real, said Evelyn del Rosario, PLDT community relations head, on Monday.
“In the first three years of the project, we were able to hit our projected number of trees planted with the help of the PLDT employee-volunteers,” she said.
Locals used to be involved in illegal logging in Quezon to eke out a living after having seen its cost on life and livelihood. Formerly cutting trees, they have become guardians of their environment, del Rosario said.
The locals produced the seedlings for the five-year project to rehabilitate the Infanta-Real watershed forest reserve and got compensated by the PLDT, she said.
Part of the fund for the project was set aside for the planting of seedlings that was bought by PLDT, del Rosario added.
The locals were formed into farmers’ community associations engaged in livelihood projects, like production of eco-bags, culturing vermi-compost, and growing fish for home consumption and market.
The PLDT TelePuno watershed forest reserve rehabilitation project in Quezon was pushed by PLDT in cooperation with the local governments of the two municipalities and the Philippine Business for Social Project (PBSP), del Rosario said. The Infanta-Real watershed forest reserve was one of the seriously damaged areas in Quezon by the series of flashfloods and landslides triggered by the heavy rains of tropical depression Winnie in November 2004.
Typhoon Yoyong hit Quezon and brought flashfloods in the first week of December shortly after Winnie, exacerbating the damage in the province.
“This place was devastated,” del Rosario said. “This was a ghost town before. We came here while bodies of the dead were still lying by the sea shore in between logs.”
About 900 died in the flashfloods and landslides. Damage to agriculture was reported at P103.3 million and over 4,000 houses destroyed in Infanta alone.
Having seen sustainability of the project as the major challenge after the planting, PLDT tapped the locals to look after the growing seedlings, del Rosario said.
“To push for the sustainability further, a significant partner in the five-year project is the Infanta-Real Multi-Sectoral Watershed Management Council,” said Kristine Rivadelo, PBSP Luzon Regional Center head.