Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga recently said that of the country’s 15 million hectares of forest land, only 7 million have forest cover, and that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is implementing efforts to increase that number to at least 10 million hectares.
“Efforts are being made to manage these areas under the National Greening Program. We have 30 million hectares of land in the country and 15 million of these are classified as forest lands,” she said.
“Last year, we started mapping out the first 1.2 million hectares, which will be opened to different people’s organizations to help us reforest these areas. We hope to target an additional three million hectares for reforestation by 2028,” she added.
Loyzaga noted that the world is facing a triple planetary crisis: climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. “Our lands, forests, fisheries, and aquatic resources are affected. Of course, the water quality and water security too. So, all of these, including the rapid growth of our cities, have a positive impact on our economy but pose a threat to the environment,” she said.
Sustained deforestation has dire consequences, as forests play a critical role in maintaining ecological balance by preventing soil erosion, regulating water cycles, and serving as carbon sinks that are necessary tools in mitigating climate change. Additionally, forests provide unparalleled protection from floods and landslides, especially during extreme weather events that have become not only more commonplace, but more powerful.
Efforts to reverse deforestation, such as the National Greening Program, are most welcome and hopefully contribute to reversing the trend, especially if the DENR manages to achieve its target of increasing the forest cover in the country from 7 million hectares to at least 10 million hectares. That, along with an acute sense of responsibility to grow the economy in a sustainable manner that goes beyond lip service, should bode well for future generations as far as the state of the environment that they will inherit is concerned.*
