ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION EFFORTS

GRACE P. GULAPA

The Department of Education (DepEd), believing that educating and empowering youth is pivotal in ensuring the longevity of environmental conservation efforts, highlighted that a total of 1.9 million tree seedlings were planted by their agency under the "Project Pagbabago: A Million Trees" program. The nationwide simultaneous tree-planting activity is connected with the “DepEd's 236,000 Trees: A Christmas gift for children” to ensure a clean and green environment. Schools are integrating tree planting into the curricula, instilling values of environmental responsibility from an early age. By nurturing a generation of eco-conscious leaders, we pave the way for a sustainable future grounded in reverence for nature. The "Project Pagbabago: A Million Trees" program seeks to inculcate to its learners and employees the importance of environment preservation, and conservation and achieve the goals of the National Greening Program of the government. Moreover, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is partnering with DepEd for a project to promote planting of "native" trees in public schools nationwide. The DENR said the activity is called "School in a Garden Project or SIGA". The SIGA program is a revival of a past DepEd project that enabled students to plant medium-sized flowering trees similar to the concept of cherry blossoms in Japan. It aims to showcase trees that are endemic to the Philippines, such as banaba and fire trees, which are colorful and flowering all-year round.

-oOoThe author is a Teacher I at Candaba Elementary School