The Department of Education (DepEd) has called for protection of heritage trees in public schools and the preservation of their historical value to students.
“Our country has been blessed with enormous biodiversity, and our heritage trees are one of our national treasures. We must appreciate and teach our young generation on how to further protect it,” Education Secretary Leonor Briones said in a statement on Tuesday.
The DepEd defines a heritage tree as “any healthy native or endemic, exotic, rare, threatened and endangered tree with a minimum girth of five meters.”
Bureau of Learner Support Services – Youth Formation Division (BLSS-YFD) chief Adolf Aguilar also underscored the importance of environmental education and the ways the department spreads the concept of biodiversity to the youth in times of pandemic.
“Kaya ang Youth for Environment in Schools-Organization (YES-O), National Greening Program (NGP) namin, Gulayan sa Paaralan sa DepEd, ay dito na namin dinadala ang advocacy at pag-create ng mga immediate actions for the environment. Ang YFD ay patuloy lamang sa pag-promote ng mga advocacies na ito para sa kalikasan,” Aguilar said.
(Our YES-O, NGP, and Gulayan sa Paaralan at DepEd are programs that advocate for and create immediate actions for the environment. The YFD will continue to promote these advocacies for nature.)
The BLSS-YFD earlier presented the NGP and conducted the “Search for Heritage Trees in Public Schools,” a program that aims to revive the accounting and inventory of heritage trees in all public schools nationwide to intensify the preservation of the country’s biodiversity.
Undersecretary for Administration Alain Del Pascua has spearheaded the search to protect centennial trees that serve as landmarks of schools.
Guest teachers including Jenelyn Alberto of Kaligayahan Elementary School, Nolito Roque Alvarez of Alabang Elementary School, Rodolfo Cardinez Jr. of Carcarmay Elementary School, and Freida Cawaling of Albasan Elementary School have shared their schools’ efforts in protecting and preserving their century-old native trees, as well as their significance in the lives of students, teachers, and themselves personally.
Alberto emphasized the value of letting the younger generation experience the benefits of having trees. “Iba pa rin ‘yung first-hand na nae-experience nila kasi mas magiging malalim ang appreciation nila,” she said.
(They must experience it first-hand, because it is different and they will have a deeper appreciation for it.)
“Ipinapakita namin ‘yung historical significance ng puno at kung gaano kaganda at kabuti na mayroon pa ring naiiwan na mga ganitong puno sa paligid natin despite of the development and economic improvement natin,” she said.
(We show the historical significance of the tree and how beautiful and good it is that there are still such trees around us despite our development and economic improvement.)
Alberto has also called on the public not to neglect the environment amid the economic growth of the country. — Richa Noriega/BM, GMA News
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