OVER the raging discussion on helping Mother Nature recover by planting just any kind of tree, the Association of United Development Information Officers (AUDIO) in Bohol knows that picking on the bamboo for their rejuvenation project is worth it all.
Out to do their share of helping in the global movement to recover the lost forest cover which sheltered Bohol in the last centuries, information officers tapped the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to facilitate the identification of the area suitable for the activity.
Tapping the Cangsague Sur and Norte Bamboo Planters Multi-Purpose Cooperative (CANSBAPMUCO), in San Isidro, Bohol, the DENR had the host cooperative of farmers and forest care-takers orient the government developmental communication advocates on the proper way of planting to make sure of a high survivability of the fastest growing grass.
DENR Forest Extension Officers Francisco Gupita and Juliet Tadle along with Coop’s Chairman Marcelo Tangcogo took turns in emphasizing the proper way of planting bamboo, which happens to be the world’s fastest growing grass, with more carbon capturing capacity than most trees.
Both Cansague Norte and Sur rely on hand-crafted manufacture of bamboo slat weaves called amakan from the bamboos which are becoming prominent highlights in the fringes of the forests.
This is our humble share in the global responsibility to facilitate the dampening of the effects of climate change that has already manifested itself in the higher ocean water rise which has forced residents of low lying islands to resettle in the mainland as the sea water has reached their homes in these islands, AUDIO President Maria Lydia Bantugan shared.
Other than its excellent carbon sequestration properties and its usability to the people who make amakan and whose houses are still physical proofs of the bamboo’s versatility, these plants have extensive root systems that are perfect for soil erosion control and acts as natural creek or river embankment systems, Gupita shared.
The half a day activity also turned out to be an opportunity for government information officers to know CANSBAPMUCO, a multi-awarded DENR organized and Securities Exchange Commission-accredited cooperative.
Getting into the country’s National Greening Program (NGP) on its first year of implementation, CANSBAPMUCO covered 10 hectares by planting them with bamboo, with a contract with DENR.
Each contract would also entail putting up of a seedling nursery establishment and a plantation establishment where the DENR pays for every seedling planted, and another for every hectare of plantation established.
By 2012, the group shifted to fruit trees in another contract to diversify and spin off from the usual forest trees, according to Gupita, who has been monitoring the cooperative’s contracted sites.
In 2014, the group went into an ambitious contract of 50 hectares of rattan, another DENR priority replanting program to address the dwindling supply for furniture and other domestic uses.
As the local government unit replanted some 72 hectares of rattan in 2016, CANSBAPMUCO also joined in with 10 hectares of fruit trees, 20 hectares of forest timber and 70 hectares more of rattan.
In 2017, the group planted 30 hectares of bamboo, another 30 hectares by the next year and in 2020, they ventured into the forest edges to plant 17 hectares of bamboo and another 20 hectares of rattan.
In 2020, the PO went out again for most Boholanos, who turned away from the responsibility of healing the ailing earth, with 17 hectares of bamboo and another 30 hectares of rattan, according to Gupita.
They have been among the most successful reforestation cooperatives that they have already harvest their bamboo forests in 2011 to set up the materials for a bamboo-boardwalk in nearby Tubigon.
And in the recent interest in the bamboo, helping the community put up enough support for the industry that would soon recover. Audio Bohol just might be right there to help them. (rahc/PIA_7/Bohol)
