SU, GCash, USAID collaborate to plant 500K mangrove trees in NegOr

DUMAGUETE CITY -- Silliman University (SU) partnered with GCash and the United States International Agency for Development (USAID)-Fish Right Program partnered to plant 500,000 mangrove trees in Negros Oriental in a ceremonial signing and a mangrove planting activity on May 5 in Lutoban, Zamboanguita, Negros Oriental.

Under the project, the partners will plant half a million mangrove trees across 78 hectares of mangrove and beach forests, covering 19 barangays in five towns namely Zamboanguita, Siaton, Sta. Catalina, Bayawan, and Basay.

Dr. Hilconida Calumpong, Ecosystems Services, Resilience, and Fisheries specialist and operations coordinator for the USAID Fish Right Program of SU, said mangrove ecosystems are important to achieve climate resilience and food security.

“Mangroves are important ecosystems that support climate change mitigation by storing large amounts of carbon, and climate change adaptation, by protecting coastlines from typhoons,” she added.

Through mangroves, the project aims to sequester 117,000 tons of carbon in five years. Carbon sequestration is a way of capturing and storing carbon dioxide to prevent it from going into the atmosphere, warming the planet, and contributing to climate change.

Healthy mangrove systems, she said, are also closely tied to livelihoods especially for coastal communities, because mangroves serve as nurseries for fish stocks.

SU, GCash, and the USAID Fish Right Program will also support local communities through the project by providing training on conservation and management of selected mangrove forests and through cash-for-work assistance.

Calumpong said through the IEMS, SU will manage the project which will be implemented by the people’s organizations accredited by their respective local government units (LGUs), under the supervision of the LGU.

“The University will provide technical training and social preparation to the people’s organizations; SU will also conduct research to determine the carbon storage capacity of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5-year-old plantings of all species used in this reforestation project and the carbon stored in the soil where they are planted,” Calumpong explained.

SU will also conduct baseline studies on the socio-economic profile of the communities engaged in the reforestation project, and an impact study of the project on the income of community implementers.

GCash’s part, Calumpong said, it supports the program through seedling collection, nursery establishment, out planting, monitoring, and capacity building on the digital collection of user fees that are collected by people’s organizations from tourists in selected mangrove sites that are ecotourism destinations.

Calumpong added that People’s organizations collect these fees manually and most of them have limited ability to account for and monitor the collection due to capacity gaps. The partnership will support enhancing the capabilities of fisherfolk associations in collecting the user fees to supplement community-based conservation efforts through the wallet app GCash.

GCash introduced the GForest feature in 2019 to address climate change by encouraging users to contribute to reforestation efforts through their digital transactions. For every transaction done in the GCash app, users will earn points called green energy which it can save up and eventually use to plant a digital tree. GCash and its partner-communities plant digital trees as actual trees in select areas in the country.

“We at GCash are committed to support the reforestation of South Negros through GForest, in partnership with Silliman University. We continuously work with various credible international and local partners who are following a science-based approach,” Charles Joshua Alegre, GCash head of sustainability said.

Dr. Nygiel Armada, USAID Fish Right Program chief of party, said the partnership aims to restore mangrove forests in the local conservation areas of the selected LGUs and contribute to the protection of communities said.

“As we hand over the initiatives that have been started under the (USAID Fish Right) Program to our partners, we are starting a new chapter in our journey of sustainability in South Negros. Planting half a million trees is a good way to start this new chapter. We are very grateful to have facilitated the establishment of this collaboration between one of our consortium partners, Silliman University, and GCash,” he added.

SU joined the USAID Fish Right Program in 2019 as one of its implementing partner institutions to establish and strengthen sustainable fishing in South Negros.  The collaboration recognizes the importance of mangrove ecosystems in climate change mitigation & adaptation and in supporting the livelihood of coastal communities as it serves as nursery grounds for many fish, crab, and shellfish species.

Around 200 participants joined the launch on May 5, including local and provincial government unit representatives; various groups such as fisherfolk associations and women’s groups; students of the SU Institute of Environmental and Marine Sciences (IEMS); representatives from national government agencies like Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR); and the non-profit organization Voice of the Free Foundation (VFF).