Old mining sites see a better chance of being rehabilitated after the approval on the third and final reading in the House of Representatives of the bill requiring all graduating students to plant at least 10 trees as one of their clearance for graduation.
The House Bill No. 8728 or the “Graduation Legacy for the Environment Act” is principally authored by MAGDALO Party-list Rep. Gary Alejano and Cavite 2nd Distric Representative Strike Revilla.
The bill mandates the planting of trees not just in inactive and abandoned mine sites but also in areas of forest lands, mangrove and protected areas, ancestral domains, civil and military reservations, urban areas under the greening plan of the local government units, and other suitable lands.
If implemented properly, this measure can ensure at least 175 million of trees planted each year by 12 million students graduating from elementary, five million students graduating in high school, and 500,000 graduating from college. This will be equal to 525 billion trees to be planted in the course of one generation.
“Even with a survival rate of only 10 percent, this would mean an additional 525 million trees would be available for the youth to enjoy, when they assume the mantle of leadership in the future,” the bill’s explanatory note read.
The bill also dictates that the Department of Education and the Commission of Higher Education will implement the measure with the cooperation from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Agriculture, Department of Agrarian Reform, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, and other government agencies.
Nursery establishment, seedling production and site preparation, monitoring and evaluation, and technical support and extension services will be under the responsibility of the involved agencies.
The agencies must also provide security, transportation, fire protection amenities, and medical support.
