Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu on Wednesday vowed to sanction field officers who would fail to meet the required 85 percent survival rate of planted tree seedlings.
“I would like to let somebody take the command responsibility for these areas,” he told provincial environment and natural resources officers, and community environment and natural resources officers.
“I am designating the PENROs and CENROs as plantation managers,” he said.
Under the expanded national greening program, a frontline field officer must be able to meet the 85 percent survival rate of planted rate seedlings being contracted to a people’s organization.
“It’s very simple. I will relieve you if you cannot fulfill that. Yes, it’s a tall order. Even if you have to go there at least every two weeks,” he warned.
He expressed his disappointment over the low survival rates for seedlings planted in some people’s organization-contracted areas ranging only from 35 to 50 percent.
Because of the low survival rates, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources suspended the scheme of contracting people’s organizations for the program this year.
“I would like to let somebody take the command responsibility for these areas,” Cimatu said.
From 2011 to July 2019, almost 2 million hectares have been planted with 1.7-billion tree seedlings.
It generated 4.73-million jobs benefiting more than 670,000 upland dwellers. Most of the planted sites have been contracted to POs.
From 2016 to 2018 alone, people’s accounted for 573,735 hectares, consisting of 24,672 plantation sites.