ANGELES CITY -- City officials and employees recently planted 79,715 mixed trees at the Barangay Sapangbato watershed.
The program is aimed to protect the nature reserve and the water table in the aquifers.
The trees include narra, molave, dau, poay, bamboo, Palawan cherry blossom, balibago, bitaug, tinik, dita, white lawan, kamagong, kiling, malaruat, toog, malalangka, malabulak, dungon, and ipil; and assorted fruit-bearing trees like mulberry, guava, anunas, guyabano, jackfruit, atis, lipote, mandgoes, duhat, kamansi, santol, kasoy, avocado, macopa, chesa, American lemon, and rambutan.
The initiative is part of the greening program of Mayor Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin Jr., that started in 2020.
As of April 4, 2024, the Angeles City Environment and Natural Resources noted the local government has already planted 79,715 mixed trees at Sitio Somil, Sitio Target, Sapang Kalawang, and APL Street Groto.
Lazatin initially committed to plant 45,000 trees in the watershed.
But records show that the city government had already surpassed its target seedlings.
Some of the planted trees are now four to six feet in height.
They will soon be part of the much larger ecosystem that the Angeles City government and the Abacan River Angeles Watershed Advocacy Council Inc (ARAW-ACI) seek to reforest, the mayor said.
The reforestation program at the Angeles City watershed was launched in June 2020. It was coordinated by Lazatin and the ARAW-ACI led by President Renato “Abong” Tayag.
Lazatin urged the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) to transfer the stewardship of the watershed to the Angeles City government.
He said the Angeles City government “will stay committed to our promise of pushing programs for the protection and preservation of our environment.”
The mayor added that the planting of additional trees is part of his administration’s reforestation program to ensure enough water supply for the future generation.
Lazatin is encouraging private sectors and non-governmental organizations to adopt areas in the watershed.
Some of the private sectors and NGOs which already adopted lands in the watershed are Clark International Airport Corporation, Angeles City Water District, Balibago Waterworks System Inc., Porac Bank, and Rotary Club of Angeles Kuliat.
The city's reforestation programs provided jobs for 17 Aetas who serve as stewards of the watershed.
The fruit-bearing trees also serve as source of food for the Aeta residents who maintain the upkeep of the area.