NON-GOVERNMENT Organizations (NGOs) encourage Filipinos to support environmental programs.
Euro Generics International Philippines (Egip) Foundation communication and development manager Celina Le Niendre-Van Dierenrouck said in a media interview on Saturday morning, October 27, at the Montenawin Eco Resort, Sitio Ladian, Barangay Marahan, Marilog District, Davao City, that most of the people who extend help on their environment initiatives are from abroad.
"Believe it or not mga foreigners ang gusto bumili ng lupa ipatubo lang yung forest (Believe it or not foreigners are the only ones who want to buy land just to grow forests)," Van Dierenrouck said.
She hopes that more Filipino landowners will buy lands to protect the lush forest of the country. She expressed that there is a need to educate and spread awareness on the benefits of planting trees as most cases, Filipino landowners only reforest land if they benefit from it. She revealed that what usually happens is landowners will plant fruit-bearing trees in barren lands then after five to ten years they will harvest the crop, leaving it empty once more.
Similarly, Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability, Inc. (IDIS) Knowledge Management Officer Yvette Balayon-Mahinay told SunStar Davao on Thursday afternoon, November 2, that most of their funding is from foreigners coming from Europe.
Although there are Filipinos from the private sector and the City Government of Davao who help fund their programs, still, mainly foreigners are the ones who are sponsoring environmental efforts.
“We encourage them to support civil society organizations and we also make them join and partake in various activities for them to know how their help can impact and change lives,” Balayon-Mahinay said.
Van Dierenrouck emphasized that if NGOs, local government units (LGUs), other government agencies, and private companies perform their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) it could generate programs that would help mitigate the impact of the human race on the environment.
The EGIP Foundation is a non-government organization whose main goal is to support the indigenous communities in the city's uplands in preserving, restoring, and reforesting their ancestral forests.
IDIS, meanwhile, is a non-profit environmental advocacy organization that advocates for the protection of watersheds in Davao City. RGP