30/07/2024
Shift 'National Greening'
To 'Fruit Tree-Forestation'
The deadly and destructive flooding which devastates low-lying areas every time typhoons hit the country or after heavy torrential rains is proof that the National Greening Program of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is a monumental failure.
After wasting hundreds of billions on a program which had not shown any positive effect on environmental protection and flood mitigation, Environmental Planners and Policy Makers must consider a shift to a more practical measure, the establishment of "Food Forests."
Promoting the planting of trees which do not have commercial value for farmers in the rural areas is one of the major reasons why the National Greening Program had failed.
The "Food Forest Advocacy" is now being embraced by many environmental groups which see the strategy as a more effective way of convincing people to plant trees.
There is a website, Project Food Forest, which defines what a "Food Forest" is.
"A food forest, also called a forest garden, is a diverse planting of edible plants that attempts to mimic the ecosystems and patterns found in nature. Food forests are three dimensional designs, with life extending in all directions – up, down, and out.
"Generally, we recognize seven layers of a forest garden – the overstory, the understory, the shrub layer, the herbaceous layer, the root layer, the ground cover layer, and the vine layer. Some also like to recognize the mycelial layer, layer eight (mushrooms). Using these layers, we can fit more plants in an area without causing failure due to competition."
The Philippine version of the Food Forest could advocate the planting of fruit-bearing trees to include species belong to the Artocarpus family which include, Jackfruit, Camansi, Marang and Breadfruit.
Other commercial fruit tree species like Durian, Durio graveolens and Avocado could also be considered as these fruit trees would provide farmers with income.
Planting Giant Bamboo in steep slopes and river banks would also be considered as part of the Food Forest Advocacy because Giant Bamboo produces the best-tasting bamboo shoots.
This is basically hitting two targets with one arrow - Food Production and Environmental Protection.
(Illustrataion o the 7 Layers of Forest was downloaded from the Project Food Forest.)
