Fort Magsaysay, Palayan City – This sprawling army camp is emerging to be the most environment-friendly with the recent launching of a bamboo propagation by the army leadership headed by Major General Gloriosio Miranda and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Capt. Mark Anthony Ruelos, chief of public affairs office here, told newsmen that a total of 670 hectares will be planted to bamboo inside this sprawling military camp, not only to support President Aquino’s National Greening Program (NGP) but serve as a livelihood project for soldiers and the paramilitary group Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit, as well as civilians.
![Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija/Photo by Ramon F. Velasquez (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](http://www.mb.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/173.jpg)
The camp’s greening program was actually started by then-camp division commander General Gregorio Pio Catapang, now chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), who initiated several environmental programs while stationed here.
Ruelos said the bamboo project was officially launched during the recent signing of a memorandum of agreement between the Army’s 7th Infantry (Kaugnay) Division, represented by commander Maj. Gen. Glorioso Miranda, and the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (ERDB) of the DENR, represented by Director Henry Adornado.
Fort Magsaysay is considered the biggest in Southeast Asia, has been selected as one of the few military camps piloting the Department of Agriculture and the National Defense-AFP Livelihood Development Programs.
Miranda said the plantation will be used to produce high-quality bamboo planting materials in support of the National Greening Program of the Aquino administration. About 305,400 bamboo seedlings are expected to be grown.
Miranda pointed out that for the first 100 hectares, some 20,400 bamboo propagules will be planted while the remaining 570 hectares will be planted with 285,000 indigenous clones and seedlings.
Bamboo is botanically classified as a grass and may be the most sustainable in maintaining ecological balance, DENR experts said.
It reaches maturity in just four years, without needing any chemicals, pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers.
Having anti-bacterial and anti-fungal qualities, bamboo also helps reduce greenhouse gases because the plants can absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.
Experts said bamboo can create five times more carbon than the same amount of trees and 35% more oxygen. Bamboo naturally absorbs two-thirds more carbon dioxide and releases two-thirds more oxygen than any other plant.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.