San Miguel Corp.’s (SMC) group-wide reforestation initiative nationwide has yielded 3.8 million trees since 2019 to date, even as it recently completed planting over 26,000 trees in Angat, Bulacan together with the town’s Dumagat communities.
The initiative is among SMC’s major environmental sustainability projects aimed at helping address the impacts of climate change through the rehabilitation of degraded forests nationwide, carbon capture, and reduction of soil erosion which contributes to severe flooding in lowland areas.
SMC president and CEO Ramon S. Ang said the company, through its power firm SMC Global Power Holdings (SMCGP), has partnered with the indigenous communities of Dumagats in Bulacan to cover the first 16 of 55 hectares targeted for planting with dipterocarp tree species like White and Red Lauan, Palosapis, Apitong, Yakal, Guijo, and other indigenous species such as Bignai and Narra.
The initiative is part of SMCGP’s carbon capture program dubbed Project 747, which aims to plant seven million trees on over 4,000 hectares of land, in seven provinces nationwide.
“We thank the members of the indigenous community in Bulacan, the Dumagats, for helping the company plant 26,656 trees on 16 hectares in just two weeks last December.
Being residents in the area, their local knowledge and insights are very valuable to our program, from the choice of the ideal tree species, to identifying the upland areas where these trees should be planted to ensure their growth to adulthood,” Ang said.
While SMCGP accounts for majority of trees and mangroves planted since 2019, other SMC businesses have either ongoing, long-term reforestation activities, or have begun their own initiatives.
With the December planting in Angat, Bulacan included, SMC and community volunteers have planted a total 54,056 trees and mangroves to date in Bulacan since 2019. The reforestation effort complements SMC’s flood mitigation strategy in the province, which will include a river channel improvement program for the Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando River System (MMORS) as well as other active rivers and tributaries in Bulacan.
This total includes 6,400 trees, including 3,200 narra and guyabano tree varieties planted by employees of SMC’s Bulacan Bulk Water Supply unit over 14 hectares at the Angat Dam Watershed since 2019. This project was conducted in cooperation with the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS).
Dubbed the annual Million Tree Planting Challenge, MWSS partners with organizations to reforest or replenish the forest cover of 126 hectares of the Angat Dam Watershed within three years.
