Government declares 16 ‘century and heritage’ trees

MAYOR Celso Lobregat led City Government officials Monday in the tagging of century and heritage trees located mostly at the R.T. Lim Boulevard area in Zamboanga City.

This is in celebration of Arbor Day na Ciudad de Zamboanga.

The tagging of trees is based on Ordinance 341, which declares trees that are more than 100 years old as century trees and those that are considered ecologically, historically or culturally valuable or belonging to a rare species or are adjacent or near a water source, spring or well and whose cutting or destruction will disrupt or destroy the water source as heritage trees.

Special programs with matching drum and lyre and honor guards were organized by the Zamboanga City State Polytechnic College (ZCSPC) led by Dr. Nora Ponce and the Brent Hospital and Colleges Inc. administration’s Dr. Raymond Sator, ushering in the tagging of the century and heritage trees with metal plates.

Ordinance 341 prohibits subjecting such trees to “any cutting or any form of destruction, except for medical, public emergency, public safety and botanical reasons.”

Assisting Lobregat in tagging the trees were department heads, including City Environment and Natural Resources Officer Engineer Rey Gonzales, City Planning and Development Coordinator Enginner Rodrigo Sicat and City Assessor and Ponce and Sator.

The City Government declared this year 16 trees for preservation, eight acacia trees declared as century trees and eight others various types of trees declared as heritage trees.

Of the total 16 trees, six are located at the ZCSPC; three at the vicinity of the Brent Hospital and Colleges, Inc.; three inside the Ateneo de Zamboanga University campus; one at vicinity of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources; one at the 9th Maritime Mobile Group Station and two at the San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm area.

Lobregat stressed that environmental protection does not only call for the planting of new trees but also entails the preservation and protection of all trees.

From 2009 until last year, the City Government has declared as preserved a total of 82 trees, 46 of which are century trees and 36 are heritage trees.