What used to be 24-hectares of open and idle brush lands in Bayawan, Negros Oriental are now planted to 16,000 various species of forestry seedlings, as the city government demonstrates its firm commitment to “green” the city which is home to more than 100,000 people.

“Only about one-third of Bayawan’s 70,000-hectare total land area is classified as forestlands,” said Joel Baterna, head of the city’s Forest Management Unit. “We need to cover more ground to really ‘green’ the city, hence the strategy to include alienable and disposable lands in our planting activities.” He explained that they are “complementing what is being done in the forestlands – where a lot of management activities are going on -- by planting trees in adjacent areas, particularly in the Bayawan River Watershed which is the city’s key source of water and a priority area for development in the city’s Forest Land Use Plan (FLUP).

Batema’s office was created to oversee implementation of Bayawan’s FLUP, which was developed through the assistance of USAID’s Philippine Environmental Governance (EcoGov) Project and implemented with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and other partners.

The “greening” program is a continuing activity, Baterna said. To date, the city has planted more than 800 assorted species of fruit trees in designated agro-forestry areas covering almost five hectares. Three hundred more trees were planted along the road leading to the Communal Irrigation Project dam. An additional 10,000 seedlings, at least 500 of which are dipterocarps, are being readied for more tree planting activities this year.

Baterna said the city is really serious about its “greening” program as Bayawan’s remaining forest cover is estimated to be down to only about 200 hectares.

he city is planning to expand the tree planting activities in other parts of Bayawan. To ensure an adequate supply of seedlings, the city government established another three nurseries in three other barangays. More nurseries are being planned to further accelerate the city’s “greening” program.

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