SBMA undertakes tree-planting to boost conservation program

Employees of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) plant trees at the Subic Bay
Freeport Zone as part of the agency’s forest, marine and air conservation programs.




The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has started a two-month tree-planting program to help enhance forest, marine and air conservation programs in this free port. 



SBMA Administrator Armand Arreza said that the agency has committed itself to a cleaner and greener Subic Bay Freeport Zone and has required officials and employees of its 29
departments to plant trees each year and care for them for a period of three years, or until the
seedlings planted have become self-sustainable.



“Each day for the rest of July and August, we shall be planting trees first in our forest areas, then later at the Central Business District to make this area greener,” Arreza said. 

Arreza added that the project will put SBMA in the lead role among government agencies in
helping curtail the alarming effects of global warming and ensuring a sustainable environment in this part of the country.



Prior to the daily tree-planting activities, the SBMA Ecology Center conducted seminars on the proper handling and care of tree saplings for planting.



Ecology Center head Amethya dela Llana-Koval said that her staff and some volunteers
managed to collect from various areas inside the Freeport more than 10,000 wildlings, or
seedlings that grew naturally after falling from trees, for this year’s tree-planting program.



The wildlings, which are all native or indigenous to the area, include species of kupang, narra, molave, amugis, panao, apitong and fire trees. 

“We patiently collected seeds and wild seedlings from the forest and grasslands in the Freeport so that we’d have planting materials to re-green our forests with,” Koval said. “Then these were packed into plastic bags and cared for until they became saplings of about two feet high and ready for planting.

”

Koval added that because it maintains its own nursery the SBMA has saved more than P900,000 for the 10,000 saplings used for this year’s tree-planting program alone.

She noted that other private organizations like the Rotary Club of Olongapo, the United
Methodist Church, and some schools inside the Freeport also requested saplings for their tree-
planting activities in other areas here. 

Koval added that aside from ensuring a healthy environment, the SBMA’s tree-planting program also boosts the tourism attractiveness of the Freeport.



“Someday, we can walk around most areas of the Freeport’s Central Business District, and on
whole stretches of main roads even during noontime, and not be bothered by the heat of the
sun,” Koval said.