Planting trees in the watershed

Today marks the start of the the Marikina Watershed Initiative’s regular Saturday tree planting sessions.

That’s a panoramic view.  The Marikina watershed is sort of North-East of Marikina, and mostly in Antipolo.  It’s the source of the Marikina-Pasig river system that runs through different parts of Metro Manila.  What is a watershed?  Here’s an excerpt from the watershed explanation on howstuffworks

What Is a Watershed?

­A watershed is an area of land that feeds all the water running under it and draining off of it into a body of water. It combines with other watersheds to form a network of rivers and streams that progressively drain into larger water areas.

After Ondoy it was identified that 55% of the volume of water that flooded Metro Manila came from the overflows of the Marikina-Pasig rivers, and that water came down from the Marikina Watershed.  Because of deforestation of the watershed, the water ran straight into rivers (carrying soil with it), overwhelming them and flooding low land areas.  Thus, the Marikina Watershed Initiative was formed – targeting to restore the 20% forest cover of the 28,000 hectare watershed to a more sustainable 50%.

Manila Water, Smart, and Meralco were the first companies to take on the cause, followed soon by Accenture (who are in the watershed today… planting away).  I joined the first troupe two weeks ago, taking a couple of friends with me.  A quick post on facebook yielded some lightning responses, and a handful of us left Manila just as dawn crept over the horizon with a borrowed pickup and some take away McDo.

The views were absolutely breathtaking…

…this photo may not do much for the message that the watershed is being ravaged by illegal logging activities and charcoal/firewood production, but I just had to share… in any case it shows the beauty we need to preserve.  The watershed provides reprieve from the city (less than an hour away from Ortigas Centre), but it is also our most important safeguard against excessive flooding.  A fact that belies the stunning vistas to be savoured..

We started with a supposed 30 minute hike that stretched out a little longer.  The reassurance that “we’re almost there” lost any meaning due to overuse.  At the top the air was fresh and crisp and the views panoramic i.e. there were no trees.  I once trekked through old growth rain forest in Negros, and had to adjust to the absolutely still and intensely thick and damp air under the canopy – with no views extending beyond the thick tree trunks, ferns, and forest vines around me.  We set to work on the grassy, but otherwise bare hillsides.

There were bamboo stakes in the ground to match each seedling site.  The bagged seedlings had already been brought up and the holes already dug – all we had to do was remove the seedling form the bag, place it in the hole and cover with soil.  Voila – a planted seedling!  Getting the community to do the land preparation is part of the livelihood generation aspect of the program – that way companies not only contribute to the reforestation but the income of the communities in the area.  Besides, office workers don’t make very good diggers.  Or sometimes hikers, for that matter, so our partners at the Foundation for the Philippine Environment have devised a difficulty grading system – if volunteers can’t manage steep climbs they can help plant seedling in lower hillside area, or even help out at the nursery which is accessible by car.

Here however is a shot of an exemplary volunteer braving the treacherous slopes of Mount Puro for the sake of the safety of millions of Metro Manilenos …

How heroic! God bless such selfless souls!! Not to mention the local village people who saunter up the mountain everyday to pre-dig all the planting sites for everyone’s convenience!!

Anyway, it’s the thought that counts

Next week our fearless mountain goat takes to lower grounds to gather wildlings with community…stay tuned!  Add the Initiative’s Facebook page to keep track of the latest news…

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