(The Philippine Star) Updated October 31, 2009 12:00 AM
Trunk line: Around 500,000 forest and fruit trees are available at the Manila Seedling Bank Foundation nursery.
MANILA, Philippines - The two storms, Ondoy and Pepeng, which devastated the whole of Luzon, spared no one: rich and poor, famous and ordinary, young and old. Now people are beginning to realize how Mother Nature can get back at them for the abuses they commit against her.
Decades ago environmentalists had been warning about the massive destruction of forests worldwide, to give way to industrialization. Forests help produce the ozone layer, the earth’s natural shield against the sun. Now that most of the world’s raw forests are gone, the atmosphere is steadily getting warmer, further hastened and worsened by the chlorofluorocarbons, fossil fuels and other chemicals released by industries and transportation.
Freak weather changes are the result of the “greenhouse effect” brought on by an excess of carbon. When strong typhoons come, there are no more trees with roots to hold and store water underground and prevent erosion. Water, loose soil and rocks tumble down to lowlands, causing mudslides and floods.
Industrialization did not only harm our global climate, it also seduced many farmers and rural folks to leave their farms and give up their rustic lives for the promise of an “easy and comfortable” life in the city.
Because the city has little to offer these fortune-seeking emigrants, most of them end up as mendicants, squatters and even crime-doers living beside esteros, under bridges, near riverbanks and waterways. The overcrowding of the cities by the informal settlers aggravated the already worsening problem of waste disposal.
Since there are no more trees to hold water, prevent erosion and landslides, floods are inevitable. Rivers are clogged and can no longer let water flow out to sea. People must be prepared for more devastating storms in the near future. But there is still something that can be done to prevent disastrous floods.
Most important is addressing our waste disposal problem. Since our landfills are almost full, we must learn to segregate our garbage. Place biodegradable waste in compost pits to turn them into fertilizer. Recycle all non-biodegradable materials or reuse them. Better yet, avoid using them if possible and replace them with environmentally friendly materials. Refrain from using fossil fuels and chemically made products that emit carbon.
This is the message from the Manila Seedling Bank Foundation, Inc., which has continuously maintained that reforestation efforts should be taken seriously and a total log ban imposed for the next 25 or 35 years — the age of a mature tree. Based on experience, a mature tree six inches in diameter and chest height can absorb as much as 200 liters of water during rainy season and slowly disperse it during the dry months. Trees therefore are very important, most especially on mountains and in the city.
The MSBF also maintains that tree planting alone is only 10 percent of the whole process. Maintaining the tree meaning, watering, fertilization, and cultivation up to its maturity is 90 percent. Tree planting is not for picture-taking and publicity. What is important is what happens after the tree is planted, after the picture has been taken. A seedling left alone will perish if not nurtured properly. MSBF strongly opposes organizations and individuals who act as if they love the environment by having their picture taken planting a tree seedling, without any after-care. If 90 million Filipinos could be encouraged to plant a tree and take care of it, then many lives would be saved.
For more information, visit the MSBF website at www.msbfi.com, e-mail qualitytrees@msbfi.com, or call 924-0166, 470-0102, telefax 924-0166.
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