Press Release
March 12, 2015

Pimentel extols DENR West Visayas
program on massive reforestation

Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel lll today said the country needs to engage in a massive reforestation program to save the denuded forest and prevent flooding from becoming a nationwide calamity every rainy and typhoon season.

He expressed his views as he extolled the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Western Visayas for its massive reforestation program aimed to reforest thousands of hectares of idle lands in the region.

The Mindanao senator underscored the fact that ten years ago the country's forest cover has been reduced to perilous proportions because of illegal logging and other man-made abuses in addition to natural calamities that denuded the forest.

Pimentel, in particular, lauded the collective efforts of the DENR Region 6 officials for taking the bold initiative of launching the ambitious program to reforest a total land area of 27,000 hectares all across Western Visayas.

"I hope the other regions in the country will follow the example of DENR Region 6 so that as a nation we will be able to concretely mitigate the dire effects of climate change," said Pimentel.

The reforestation program will cover 7,943 hectares of land in Negros Occidental, 6,184 hectares in Capiz, 5,803 hectares in Iloilo, 4,637 hectares in Antique, 2,744 hectares in Aklan, and 100 hectares in the island province of Guimaras.

Pimentel urged the local government units (LGUs) to get into the act to make the national government program on reforestation a success.

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