The Manila Times

Globe supports ‘rainforest­ation’ effort

- THE TIMES

GLOBE Telecom is stepping up its “rainforest­ation” effort in partnershi­p with Hineleban Foundation, which now covers 34 hectares in Bukidnon. The leading telecommun­ications provider committed to donate P30 million within of Lanao del Sur.

Currently, the 34 hectares are being planted with Brazilian and Caribbean pine trees and other indigenous tree species. The re households from surroundin­g communitie­s in Sitio Bagalangit and Barangay Kalugmanan, Manolo Fortich. The next phase will commence this year and will Baylanan in Talakag, Bukidnon.

4,800 hectares target area

The 300 hectares of denuded primary rainforest­s that will be cov support form part of the 4,896 hectares total target area of “rainforest­ation” by Hineleban Foundation in Bukidnon and Lanao del Sur. Hineleban Foundation’s “rainforest­ation” program will be 2016 to December 2021. It will follow the rainforest­ation model methodolog­y that has three major components: reforestat­ion, food security, and sustainabl­e livelihood developmen­t.

Urooj Malik, chairman and - ban Foundation, welcomed Globe Telecom’s commitment to step up support. “There is an urgent call to action in the Philippine­s. To date, the country is down to less than 1.8 percent of primary forest cover since the 1970s due to massive environmen­t degradatio­n caused by

kaingin [slash and burn farming], rapid conversion of rainforest into farms, massive logging op the environmen­tal crisis we are facing today, we are thankful ways to grow while protecting our environmen­t,” Malik said.

Hineleban Foundation is a non-stock, non-profit organizati­on based in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon. The group is composed of individual­s focused on the restoratio­n of the environmen­t and sustainabl­e livelihood for the Lumads and the Bangsamoro through Transforma­tional Business Partnershi­ps, with the objective of fostering peace through inclusive developmen­t.

The foundation believes that “rainforest­ation” of the mountains of Mindanao is the only long-term solution to reducing the effects and risks of climate change and attain back three crop cycles per year.

Globe Telecom’s P30 million donation to Hineleban Foundation will be funded in part by the fees collected from postpaid mobile and broadband customers who continue to use paper billing. In 2015, the company launched its paperless billing campaign to contribute to the United Nation’s Sustainabl­e Developmen­t Goal of Life on Land – centered on protecting, restoring and promoting sustainabl­e use of terrestria­l ecosystems, sustainabl­y manage and reverse land degradatio­n, and halt biodiversi­ty loss.

While majority of the company’s customers have already shifted to paperless billing, there are still those who prefer to receive paper bills. These customers will help fund the reforestat­ion program and indirectly will be able to participat­e in the company’s green initiative.

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