The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will now recycle plastic bags used in potting seedlings for their greening programs.
The recycling will not only cut the cost of seedling production for the National Greenng Program (NGP) but will also reduce the potential impact of plastic bags in the environment, Secretary Ramon Paje said in a statement.
With recycling, the cost for plastic bags will likewise be reduced by at least half, added Paje.
“With 1.5 billion seedlings to be raised from 2011 and 2016, we are looking at a cost of P750 million for plastic bags alone,” he noted.
The reforestation program aims to plant 1.5 billion trees in at least 1.5 million hectares of land until 2016, which is more than twice the government’s accomplishment of 730,000 hectares in the past 25 years.
Among the areas targeted for planting are forestlands, mangrove and protected areas, ancestral domains, civil and military reservations, urban areas, inactive and abandoned mines and other suitable lands.
DENR will also coordinate with national government agencies, local government units, government owned and controlled corporations, and state colleges and universities to fully implement their priority program.
Earlier this month, at least 400 government officials and employees planted of 3,500 seedlings at Ipo watershed in Bulacan to start up the five-year greening program.
(source: Phil Star)
