302 Hectares of Private Lands Planted with Trees in Sorsogon

LEGAZPI CITY, Oct. 8  -- At least 302 hectares of private lands in Sorsogon are planted with trees, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) regional office in Bicol based in this city.

Some of the trees were planted as early as 1940, like the 39 narra and five dao trees in the 0.75 hectare-lot owned by Domingo Bayan in Barangay Pamurayan, Sorsogon City.

Bayan is among the 159 landowners granted certificate of registration for private tree plantation in the province of Sorsogon from 1997 to 2008, records at the Forest Management Service of the DENR here show.

The DENR, per Memorandum Circular No. 97-09, has been encouraging since 1997 all private tree plantation owners to have their plantations be documented. This program recognizes the contribution of the private landowners in wood and lumber production.

A private tree plantation refers to a private land planted to tree crops primarily for wood production and commercial purposes.

Documentation of private tree plantations is needed in order to: 1) determine tree plants established within private lands; 2) facilitate the documentation requirements of future harvests; 3) establish a system for the recognition of the participation of private landowners in the tree plantation development of the government.

Meanwhile, DENR Regional Executive Director Joselin Marcus Fragada is inviting other landowners who have not yet registered their plantations to see the DENR Office near their locality.

The registrants shall bring with them authenticated copies of land titles where tree plantations are established, Fragada said.

Citing the benefits of the DENR private tree plantation registration program, Fragada said holders of certificate of registration are entitled to incentives under Republic Act No. 7161, exempting planted trees from forest charges; the Omnibus Investment Code pertaining to tree farmers, and relevant future laws that may be enacted.

The planting and cutting of trees within private lands is in line with DENR Secretary Lito Atienza's advocacy of "plant and harvest only."

This means that cutting of trees can only be allowed on areas planted a long time ago. In other words, one can only harvest or cut trees where one has planted. (PNA)