PMSEA invest in Botanical Garden

Thursday, June 16, 2011

LOUIE Sarmiento, president of the Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Association (PMSEA), is batting to develop a garden haven in Baguio City.

Sarmiento said the association invested P500,000 in rehabilitating the 1,500-square-meter area at a portion of Botanical Garden along Leonard Wood Road that they have adopted.

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"This is part of the national greening program and we are actively involved in it," he said.

Sarmiento, together with Mines and Geosciences Regional Director Orlando Pineda Sr., ceremoniously planted pine tree seedlings in the area on Wednesday.

Sarmineto said a five-year development started for the PMSEA in the area batting to fill it with endemic plants from the country.

The PMSEA hired the services of George Mendoza, an expert in propagating endemic plant species in the country, tasked to visit the area regularly and see what species will thrive.

Sarmiento said the goal is to plant endemic plants in the PMSEA adopted area as a model for mining companies to simulate.

From now until the next mining symposium in November, the area will be rehabilitated and then opened formally to the public.

The activity is also a part to the PMSEA's contribution for World Environment month.

The PMSEA has also been able to plant 10.5 million trees all over the country and boasts of a 65 percent survival rate covering a total of 11,000 hectares.

Last year, at the same site, 300 Benguet pine trees were planted and between pine trees are 20 azalea and 30 Hibiscus flowering shrubs were planted.

The area is set to be called the PMSEA Park and is being developed to become an added tourism attraction at the Botanical Garden.