Trees are important not only for our survival but also for a thriving ecosystem. Think of fresh air, the materials for tools or shelter or the fruit they bear—all these are possible, thanks to trees.
Unfortunately, due to the great demand for a tree’s wood, fruits and everything else, a lot of people have cut down huge swaths of forests. Sometimes, this is done just to clear land for construction purposes.
On the bright side, more and more organizations are advocating to empower and educate people of environmental stewardship, like Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (Rafi)’s biodiversity conversation arm, One To Tree, formerly known as Rafi BioCon.
For over 10 years, Rafi BioCon has provided organizations, corporations, groups and individuals an avenue for nature conservation while generating livelihood. This resulted in planting more than eight million native trees and 1.2 million mangroves in more than 10,000 hectares of land in both upland and coastal areas of Cebu. This involved over 40 organizations, 300 farmers, 300 public schools and over 23,000 students.
With its goal of planting five million more native trees such as Narra, Talisay, Cacao, Guyabano, Kaningag (Cebu Cinnamon) to name a few, by 2023, and to create more platforms and activities that the public can participate in, the organization rebranded the program to One To Tree, an accessible digital platform.
The name One To Tree has earmarks of basic arithmetic and simple steps—breaking down conservation into as-easy-as-one-two-three steps that people can throw in together into their everyday lives.
With this enhanced strategy and program, one can now be involved in caring for the planet and plant native trees anywhere—may it be at the comfort of their home, on the road, at the beach—with just a few taps on their smartphones or a click of a button through its key digital partners like Lazada and GCash by donating P100. Many other digital partnerships and platforms are also in the works.
One may also donate, learn more about native trees, and receive more updates through its website www.onetotree.org.
“We wanted to give each individual the opportunity to make a difference, whether it be one tree or one million and accessibility is critical, and that is why we have developed key digital partners to extend our reach,” said David Aboitiz, One to Tree’s program champion.
One To Tree is also open for volunteers and allows visits at its native tree nursery in Sitio Roosevelt, Busay every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 1 to 4 p.m.