Nickel industry plants more than 4M trees

KEY players in the country’s nickel industry have planted an estimated 4.2 million trees to date in the Caraga region and in Palawan, as continuous compliance in implementing responsible and sustainable mining operations, the Philippine Nickel Industry Association (PNIA) said on Tuesday.

In a statement, PNIA said it has strengthened its greening efforts in recent years through the activities of its seven member-companies. The organization said the undertaking is part of its “ongoing progressive rehabilitation and reforestation” in their respective mining areas.

“Our member-companies have planted more than we have mined. In fact, our ‘ green’ footprint is larger than our mining footprint in terms of area. Our aggregate reforestation effort comes up to a total of about 2,000 hectares planted to date,” said Charmaine Olea-

Capili, PNIA executive director.

Capili cited the current forest density of its member-companies is now about 2,100 trees per

the country’s National Greening Program (NGP).

The NGP is a program of the government that aims to re-vegetate about 1.2 million hectares of “unproductive, denuded, and degraded” forestlands nationwide from 2017-2022.

Since the start of rehabilitation efforts, a variety of indigenous and endemic trees, and grass species have been successfully planted, PNIA said. These include agoho, mahogany, giant bamboo, tiger kamagong, tiga, ipil, narra, and ironwood, as well as fruit-bearing trees like calamansi, rambutan, cashew, jackfruit, and cacao, among others.

Cash crops such as rubber, coffee, vegetables, and herbal plants are also grown in the mine sites’ respective nurseries, PNIA added.

According to PNIA, not only does the program provide employment to residents of indigenous communities, it also allows the companies to help their respective host communities as seedlings can be donated to them in support of various greening initiatives.

It noted that this has given birth to an emerging downstream industry, agro-forestry, which also focuses on the community’s livelihood beyond mining.

“Much effort has been poured into rehabilitation because what has been planted will outlast the mine itself. This is for the community and for the generations to come, long after the mines

have concluded their operations,” Capili said.

Meanwhile, PNIA said it is set

implement its Bamboo Plantation and Livelihood Project.

“The unique properties of bamboo complements on-going rehabilitation and reforestation efforts, provides livelihood opportunities and helps improve community disaster preparedness,” it added.

Furthermore, the PNIA focuses on other environmental preservation initiatives such as wildlife conservation, marine protection, rubber plantations, tilapia production, and other activities that help improve the environment.

organization established in 2012, is composed of Platinum Group Metals Corp., CTP Construction and Mining Corp., Citinickel Mines and Development Corp., Carascal Nickel Corp., DMCI Mining Corp., Marcventures Mining and Development Corp., and Agata Mining Ventures Inc.