Sulog Volume 2 Issue 2

Sulog The Road to TreeVolution

A narrative of a successful campaign that revolutionized the greening of Mindanao

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July to December 2014

To TreeVolution and back again A high-school senior’s Greening MindaNOW experience

Davao City, Philippines

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INFOGRAPHIC: TreeVolution Results and Figures

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Programs lined up to sustain TreeVolution efforts

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MinDA

Beyond

Volume 2 Issue 2

Guinness

TreeVolution: Greening MindaNOW unites Mindanawons in an unprecedented bid to restore the environment A young TreeVolutionist carefully lowers a seedling into the ground during the TreeVolution in Sarangani Province.

(Photo by Martin Fernando Ebarle Bernad Jr.)

Statement of Secretary Luwalhati Antonino, Chair of the Mindanao Development Authority on the Guinness World Record for Most Trees Planted Simultaneously (Multiple Locations)

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e are happy to announce that Mindanao, Philippines has officially set a new Guinness World Record for the most trees planted simultaneously at multiple locations through TreeVolution: Greening MindaNOW, held on September 26, 2014.

The new world record achieved the planting of 2,294,629 trees, carried out by 122,168 volunteers at 29 locations across Mindanao, Philippines.

This is a huge feat for all Mindanawons, especially the

volunteers and partners, particularly the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) who showed overwhelming support in successful conduct of TreeVolution.

We express our heartfelt gratitude to all those who participated in the event.

Their involvement has made this historic event even more meaningful.

Due to the stringent verification process of the Guinness committee, only 2,294,629 out of the 4 million trees planted were officially tallied, exceeding the previous record of India by more than 300,000 trees.

More importantly, this official number from Guinness does not in any way reduce the long-term impacts of the actual 4 million trees planted in over 7,800 hectares of land all over Mindanao.

The 4 million seedlings planted add 1 percent to Mindanao’s target forest cover by 2016. These trees, once fully mature can supply oxygen to around 16 million people daily, or 75 percent of the total Mindanao population.

There’s also no doubt on how the seedlings we planted could eventually minimize the impacts of climate change.

While breaking a world record was a recognized motivating factor for the event, it has been amply emphasized that the success of the TreeVolution goes beyond the Guinness World Record.

TreeVolution has showed one overwhelming reaffirmation - that Mindanawons can unite for a common good, and that, we, Mindanawons, can truly become one for the environment.

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The Road to

Secretary Luwalhati Antonino of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) raises a seedling wrapper after successfully planting her seedlings during TreeVolution in Davao City.

TreeVolution A narrative of a successful campaign that revolutionized the greening of Mindanao

BY RAYMOND ESPERAT

T

he task of planting more than 4 million seedlings in a span of one hour by mobilizing over hundreds of thousands of people across the island of Mindanao seemed impossible.

“This looks like an insurmountable task,” said MinDA Chairperson Luwalhati Antonino, while adding “but with a well-planned and synchronized mobilization, coordination, and information campaign, there is no doubt that Mindanawons can carry out this challenge.”

And so on September 26, 2014, Mindanawons demonstrated to the rest of the country, and to the world, that it could be done.

TreeVolution, as the campaign is now popularly called, is an account worth telling. It’s a story of triumphs and challenges that highlight the partnership of the narrative’s main characters: The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), key government organizations, and most importantly, the volunteers.

As a concept, TreeVolution started as an idea of a

MindaNOW! Sulog

simultaneous tree-planting activity across multiple locations “with a twist.”

The idea of a Guinness World Record attempt was utilized as a kick-starter to promote and encourage environmental consciousness and responsibility among Mindanawons. The concept eventually transformed into a full-fledged environmental and climate change mitigation campaign strategy for the

the organizers had to conceptualize a name that aptly reflects the scale of the challenge. The brand TreeVolution:Greening MindaNOW, representing the immediate necessity of a peaceful revolution that seeks to unite all Mindanawons to restore the island-region’s environment, was approved unanimously.

Taking its cue from the word “Revolution,”

“It always seems impossible until it’s done” -Nelson Mandela

The attempt to set a new world record was already daunting in itself. India holds the current world record for the category with 1.9 million trees planted in 2011. To set a new world record, Mindanao had to plant significantly more trees, along with mobilizing a greater number of participants.

TreeVolution not only sought to break a world record, but more so to focus public attention on the state of Mindanao’s forest cover and spark a transformation of attitudes towards responsible environmental stewardship.

This is even made more relevant in light of the effects of climate change as evidenced by the successive typhoons passing through Mindanao with regularity, and our efforts to mitigate the effects and adapt to this ‘new normal’.

In coming up with a branding for the event,

The organizers barely had two months to

whole island-region of Mindanao. What was initially planned as a regional event became a bigger undertaking with enhanced objectives.

complete gargantuan tasks: Establishment of National Greening Program planting sites all over Mindanao that have corresponding Global Positioning System Coordinates; preparation of seedlings of more than 4 million pieces that have to be transported to the planting sites; and the need to mobilize more than 100,000 volunteers to participate in the planting.

MinDA, in tandem with the DENR and the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) engaged in a massive social media campaign to promote the event, aided with the implementation of comprehensive public relations and marketing plans.

Facebook was primarily utilized to disseminate realtime updates on the event and also functioned as an online registration portal.

“Facebook was very valuable in engaging the general public,” shares Reyzaldy Tan, MinDA’s Director for Planning Policy Project Development Office, while adding “based on the reposts and shares of TreeVolution’s Facebook page, the event already stirred the Turn to page 7

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To TreeVolution and back again

A high-school senior’s Greening MindaNOW experience

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BY MARIANNE COLEEN YUSON

t was still cold and dark when my friends and I started the trek to our assigned planting site. We were part of the thousand-strong contingent from the Holy Child College of Davao who volunteered for TreeVolution:Greening MindaNOW! My friends and I from our class spent the night at school, so we can have an early head-start for TreeVolution the next day. We could barely sleep due to our excitement for the next day’s activity.

going back. Exhaustion from the heat started to take its toll on them, and me too.

Whenever someone felt too tired to continue, we would jokingly encourage each other on with cheers of “This is for our Batch Day!” Batch Day, which is like the prom in other schools, was turned into a motivation to burn calories and lose a little weight during the trek to the planting site. We would then just laugh it off and continue walking, fearful of not fitting

assigned planting site, but the exhilaration of being able to plant even a few trees was all worth it, I thought.

The trek back turned out to be even more challenging.

We decided to try another route, which was supposed to be shorter, but we got lost instead. I prayed and, fortunately, we were able to eventually find our way back to the jump-off point along the highway. I was tired, but otherwise I felt fulfilled.

On the ride back to the

Our contingent from school arrived at our jumpoff point along the DavaoBukidnon highway around 5AM. There we learned that vehicles were no longer allowed entry into the site due to safety concerns.

I may have just planted a few trees, but with the help of friends and everyone else that day, we got to plant 4 million trees together. And that is a lot!

The author is a graduating student of the Holy Child School of Davao, High School Department.

The MindaNOW! Sulog Editorial Staff

My first tree planting experience back in grade school did not go very well.

I fainted from the heat and exhaustion then. My mother was naturally apprehensive about me joining a similar activity and in a more difficult location at that.

Eventually my mother relented, and I was allowed to go. It’s not often that we can go to a Mindanao-wide treeplanting activity together, and the Guinness World Record attempt at that.

of our world. It was a side which I do not see often. And in seeing what I saw, I was reminded of the state of our forests and watersheds, and what needs to be done to care for it.

Janet M. Lopoz, CESO I Editor-in-Chief Joan Barrera Leoncio Rodaje Reyzaldy Tan Editorial Staff

High school students from the Holy Child School of Davao work in pairs to plant seedlings at their designated planting area in Barangay Magsaysay, Marilog District, Davao City.

our gowns and suits specially tailored for the incoming event.

As advised by the TreeVolution Marshalls, we could either go back or trek for at least two hours the estimated 8 kilometers up and down the hills to reach our planting site.

The beautiful scenery along the way to the planting site helped to encourage us to go on. I was amazed at the clear rivers and streams that we had to cross, as well as of the remaining greens of the surrounding hills and valleys.

We decided to push ahead, thinking that we might as well do it since we were already there. Halfway through the trek to the planting site, a number of my friends seriously considered

The trek to the planting site took us all of three hours, but we made it just in time to plant a few seedlings before the signal to stop was given by the Marshalls. We were among the last to reach our

city, my friends and I could not help but look back on our TreeVolution experience.

“Kapoy pero astig!” (“Tiring but awesome!”), said Chrisialine Joy Cahilig, one of my friends, which more or less summed up the sentiment of the group.

“Kapoy sya pero at least nakita nato ang lahi nga side sa atong world” (“It was tiring but at least we got to see the other side of our world”), piped in another friend, Nica Ladiao.

Because of TreeVolution, I did see that other side

Ma. Vilma Belches Raymond Esperat Fritz Flores Kathy Mar Mateo Anne Marie Oledan Rolando Pinsoy Mary Ann Quisido Yvette Valderia Avon Sinajon Staff Sulog is a quarterly publication of the Mindanao Development Authority through its flagship program called MindaNOW! Nurturing Our Waters Program. The term Sulog is a Bisayan word for current, but specifically defines the current that is present in bodies of water like streams, rivers, lakes and oceans. It connotes strength, power and consistency. Sulog plays a major role in the formation of the Earth’s landscape and acts as the key element that connects the ridge to the reef. You want your stories published in the succeeding Sulog issues? Please send your contributions to now@minda.gov.ph

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Thank CONGR DonQz James

Mark Aposaga Dol Diano

PIA Western Mindanao

Ari Ben Bompat Mary Jane Baybayan

Jenner Pasco Pandan

Jean Paul Tolentino

Jean Paul Tolentino

Ken-Ken Calolot

Jeong Nietes Jenner Pasco Pandan Lea Grace Quidato

7,000 hectares 147,603 volunteers 4,000,000 trees MindaNOW! Sulog

&

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k you RATULATIONS! to

all volunteers

Surf Lanuza

Jessica Maunes

MINDACOMNET Davao

Ryan Poliran PIA CARAGA

Uno Azucena

PIA CARAGA

Nneka Kay Tanco

Sidney Nanini

Lotlot de Dios

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Programs lined up to sustain TreeVolution efforts “It would be a great achievement to break the Guinness record, but the primary focus is to reforest a large portion of the region to restore the integrity of the environment and enhance our efforts against the negative impacts of climate change. This is what NGP is all about.” DENR Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje, on TreeVolution: Greening MindaNOW

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ounded by the common goal of environmental preservation, the TreeVolution truly marked in history that Mindanawons can be “MindanaONE” for Mother Nature. While the 4 million trees planted last Sept. 26, 2014 united the island, Mindanawons are now facing a greater call for active engagement in sustainability efforts. Hence, the plans for TreeVolution II. Starting in 2015, the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) together with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), will be implementing programs to sustain the gains of TreeVolution: Greening MindaNOW campaign.

In the first TreeVolution campaign, tree-planting activities were done in 283 barangays. In TreeVolution II, this will further expand as we bring tree-growing closer to the people through the Barangay StraTREEgic Forest Project (BSFP).

In partnership with the DENR, DILG, PCA and ARMM, a total of 1,500 target barangays all over Mindanao will be establishing their tree nurseries. The seedlings produced will be planted in their respective 20-hectare

MindaNOW! Sulog

designated barangay reforestation area, as well as augment the seedling requirements of the DENR’s National Greening Program (NGP). Moreover, not only it facilitates reforestation but also integrates livelihood through cacao production, in pursuance to Mindanao’s goal to be a big supplier of cacao in the world market.

While the recent TreeVolution event successfully covered around 7,000 hectares of land in Mindanao, Mindanawons are highly encouraged to give more value to areas at or near critical rivers and watersheds through the Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES).

PES is an environmental mechanism designed to help sustain ecosystems that provide resources and support to public utilities and other industries.

In municipalities like Naawan, Misamis Oriental, they are proactively collecting PhP1 for every cubic meter of water that a local household consumes. The funds generated are used to reforest and maintain their watershed.

The PES Kalatungan, through the CDO RBMC is already starting to roll-out the project especially to the stakeholders and business locators of Cagayan de Oro City as well

as the upstream Bukidnon.

PALMA+PB, which is an LGU Alliance, is now in the second phase, which involves fine tuning and implementation of the PES Framework, and will commence in the first quarter of 2015.

Private companies and NGOs (non-government organizations) are also highly encouraged to join the campaign through the Adopta-Site Program. This will be a great opportunity for them to maximize their Corporate Social Responsibility by adopting the TreeVolution sites provided with a variety of methods or models they can choose and apply in developing their assigned areas.

The TreeVolution II will also put particular focus on mangrove planting for coastal protection. Mangroves are effective barriers against storm surges. This makes them critical in the wake of climate change and the resulting extreme weather events that is anticipated to

hit Mindanao more frequently than before. Mangrove forests are also one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems and support a large variety of living organisms.

With these challenges at hand, the pivotal role of youth volunteerism is greatly needed, as displayed during the last TreeVolution.

It is from this vision that organizing the Youth TreeVolution Movement is in the works. In partnership with the National Youth Commission, the youth of Mindanao are entrusted to take the role of responsible young stewards towards our watersheds and river basins.

MinDA strongly believes and calls for Mindanawons to be MindanaONE once again in protecting and nurturing our environment. After all, our Mother Nature is our one shared resource, and therefore, our one shared responsibility.

7 The Road to.. people’s interest weeks prior to the actual event.”

Partnerships with local government units were reinforced, primarily through the Department of Interior and Local Government, the Confederation of Provincial Governors, City Mayors and Municipal League Presidents of Mindanao (CONFEDMindanao) and the Regional Development Councils to ensure the success of the

From TreeVolution Facebook

TreeVolution. The Armed Forces of the Philippines, together with the Philippine National Police, provided security as well as communications in and around the planting sites which were mostly out of the coverage area of mobile services. Rescue and medical personnel were made to be available on site in case of injury or accidents. Traffic police were deployed along

PIA CARAGA

Jules Albert Songcuya

The situation in many planting sites became more challenging when there were more people who showed up than the expected number of participants. The organizers had to make judgment calls based on specific situations, taking into consideration all the variables but always maintaining the primacy of the safety and security of the volunteers.

“The TreeVolution was

DENR-ARMM

of 7,000 hectares of land were planted, to potentially raise Mindanao’s forest cover by one percent to 22 percent of its total land area.

While the output of the event as complex as TreeVolution may be miniscule as compared to the overall goal of reforesting Mindanao back to sustainable levels, the key takeaway here is that Mindanawons have shown that they are willing

Central Mindanao Colleges

Jovan Agbong Cornelio

Left to right: Volunteer planters snake through the hills back to the exit point after planting their trees in ComVal Province; A person with disability (PWD) is not deterred from planting trees with only one arm in CARAGA; A planter carefully covers a seedling planted in the mountains of Talaingod in Davao del Norte; A woman gets wet planting mangrove propagules during high tide in Lamitan, Basilan; Volunteers move en masse towards the exit point in Alimodian, Matalam, North Cotabato; A volunteer planter is caught on camera planting a tree in Davao Oriental.

project.As the date of the event drew nearer, the number of volunteers as well as of logistical support from both the public and private sectors continued to snowball.

Requests for registration and planting site assignment continued to pour in past the deadline, even as late as the evening before September 26.

Adjustments to security and safety plans had to be made to accommodate the overwhelming response of Mindanawons to

the highways leading to the planting sites to facilitate the arrival and exit of the participants. In almost all locations, particularly those that are difficult to reach, the organizers slept on site to better prepare for the next day’s activities.

On TreeVolution day, volunteers started to trickle in as early as two in the morning. The bulk of the participants came in a deluge between 4 and 6 AM, clogging up access roads which were mostly narrow and unpaved.

really unprecedented. I think it was because everyone believed in the cause. We successfully showed the world the MindanaONE spirit of unity for environmental stewardship,” said Undersecretary Janet Lopoz, Executive Director of MinDA, after reports from planting sites around Mindanao were consolidated.

All in all, 147,603 volunteers responded and planted 4 million trees in 283 locations throughout Mindanao. As a result, a total

to do their part to nurture our environment – crossing ethnic, religious and even political boundaries.

What seemed impossible at first was proven otherwise. It took a lot of work, but the outcome of TreeVolution:Greening MindaNOW! gives all of us the hope and inspiration to continue to do what is thought to be impossible, to assure future generations of Mindanawons of a sustainable and green environment.

TreeVolution planting site in the hills overlooking the sea in Barangay Diegas, Municipality of Basilisa, Province of Dinagat Photo by PENRO-Dinagat Islands

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