The Philippine Nickel Industry Association (PNIA) has planted an additional 809,656 trees in the first two quarters of 2020, bringing the total number of planted trees to over 6 million to date.
In a virtual press conference on Wednesday, PNIA President Dante Bravo said the
association, through its eight member-companies, had planted a total of 6.3 million trees over 3,167 hectares in their respective mining areas.
He said plantings for the first half of the year covered 322 hectares of land, or equivalent of approximately 600 football fields, noting the increase in tree planting efforts from the association translated to a 13.9 percent growth in the total number of trees planted as of the second quarter of 2020. In 2019, PNIA planted about 5.3 million trees.
Despite the slowdown in operations during the community quarantine period, Bravo stressed PNIA members have consistently delivered beyond compliance to their mandate on environment protection and rehabilitation (EPEP).
According to him, PNIA members have invested over P203 million on continued EPEP activities and P59.7 million on progressive rehabilitation for the first six months of 2020.
For her part, PNIA Executive Director Charmaine Olea-Capili emphasized that PNIA members remain committed to the implementation of progressive rehabilitation programs, which is based on research and follows rigorous scientific methods.
“[The] PNIA members have full-time environment and technical experts who study the ecosystem and soil of each area that will be rehabilitated to identify which tree species will suit the environment and benefit the community. Member-companies have planted over 70 different tree species including bamboo in their respective mining sites,” she added.
As of August 2020, the group reported that over 23,100 bamboo seedlings have been planted across 43 hectares. Aside from rehabilitating the environment, bamboo planting can also provide livelihood opportunities for local communities by selling various bamboo-made products.
Moreover, Capili noted nickel industry companies have also conducted numerous environmental programs for the benefit of their host communities, including 17 coastal clean ups in Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Norte and Palawan, and the planting of almost 95,000 mangrove seedlings as of August.
The ongoing reforestation is just part of the industry’s continuous efforts to help local communities during the pandemic. In July, the nickel group members allotted almost P30 million in pandemic relief assistance under their Social Development Management Programs in the form of personal protective equipment, food security packs, medicines and test kits, disinfection tents, organized transportation, among others.
“We ensure that no one gets left behind especially in these trying times. In partnership with the local government, we continuously provide assistance through our various social development, crisis response and environment protection programs,” Capili said.
“Although production slowed down this year, PNIA members have ramped up their social development and environment programs to help the community throughout the pandemic and deliver our commitments to our stakeholders,” she added.