Million Hectare Challenge

Join the Million-Hectare Challenge! Haribon Foundation announces its 4th annual event, happening November 21st at McKinley Hill, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

The Million Hectare Challenge urges all Filipinos to support the ROAD TO 2020 campaign, which aims to restore 1 million hectares of forests by year 2020 using native tree species.

Rainforests are our primary source of water. Healthy rainforests prevent soil erosion and enhance biodiversity. In the past few years, the Philippines has seen an increase in natural disasters such as killer landslides, droughts, floods, as well as water crises - all telling signs of the state of degradation of our rainforests. To date, we have 22.08% (Philippine forestry statistics, 2007) forest cover left, we need 54% to maintain ecological processes in the country.

Let’s hit the road! Help raise at least 1 million pesos towards ROAD TO 2020. Funds generated from the Million-Hectare Challenge event will be used to support tree-planting activities, promotion of environment-friendly and sustainable livelihood options for local communities, establishment and maintenance of indigenous tree nurseries, awareness-raising and capacity building– just to name a few.

- Join and accept the challenge! You can choose to walk, run at your pace or race to raise pledges (3K, 5K, 10K)

- Registration Fees: 400 pesos; and 350 pesos for Haribon members.

- Pledges are optional but help us reach our fundraising goal and get pledged!

Typhoon Ondoy

By this time, there could have been a lot of stories on what happened last Saturday to thousands of Metro Manila residents and nearby provinces that were directly hit by the typhoon. Up to this time, several areas and subdivisions are still submerged with flood waters caused by the typhoon. What can we do? We can help through donations or volunteer work. ABSCBN and GMA 7 are asking donations and volunteers and we can help by participating in their relief efforts.

What happened is definitely nature showing us that no matter how advanced our technology is, in the end nature will still prevail. What we can do is take care of our environment and pray that we can recover quickly from natural calamities. If we watched the news for the past 2 days, one can observe that flood waters are usually brown in color. These waters are from the mountains near Rizal, Bulacan, Tarlac and Pampanga. The Sierra Madre mountain range starts in Northern Luzon and ends in Rizal and Laguna. Brown waters came down from the mountains collecting silt and mud. The flood water we see around Pasig and Marikina are heavily silted which only means water came from the mountains going to the river and causing it to everflow. Silt turns into mud which makes rivers turn shallow and clog areas in addition to the garbage thrown by residents near river areas. What causes silt and mud to go to the rivers? Soil is loosened because of heavy logging, mining and irresponsible actions we do to our mountains. Can we say now that nature is responsible to the calmity we experienced for the past 2 days? Definitely not. Nature is there to remind us. It is just unfortunate that we still have to learn our lesson after so many deaths and properties damaged.

Maybe after we donate and do volunteer work, we should think long term and consider the situation very well. Please join efforts in reforestation and tree planting so we can make a difference to the generations ahead us. Please spread information that beyond the natural calamity and heavy rainfall we experienced, we still need to spread the information in preserving our environment. Join forest conservation efforts now and make a difference in the future.

I Got Featured in Manila Times

I spent the long weekend at home and had quality time with my family. It was really fun playing with my son and I miss him everyday when i go to work. Sometimes i wish i could go home early so that i could spend more time with him. Anyway, i got lucky this weekend and i was featured in a small space in Manila Times Newspaper. Haribon Foundation regularly send member profiles to them and this time, i was picked by the organization. The questions were a bit hard but i tried my best to give good answers.

The title was "Non Expiry Mission" and was written by Florench May Corpuz. Here is a part of the article:

Membership expires but one’s calling never does.

Being part of an environment advocacy group doesn’t limit one from caring for one’s environment. This was exemplified by Lemuel Lancer Ponce, a former Haribon Foundation staff who continued his mission as steward of nature by handling projects and providing environmental awareness through blogging.

Ponce, a graduate of the University of the Philippines was a member from 2003 to 2005. Though he was no longer a Haribon staff, he worked with different non-government organization and handled environment-related projects.

“My education in Haribon helped me conceptualize a proposal, submitted to a private company and was approved with funding. After more than a year, the project is still ongoing and has benefited a lot of members in the community,” said Ponce.

Ponce, who believes that education is the solution to environmental problems, regulary updates his blogsite (http://mhaileon.blogspot.com) with environment conservation topics that have already earned him loyal readers both local and international.

“During these times where information is shared through different medium, we should take advantage of the situation. Internet being the most affordable is Haribon’s best chance. Once information is disseminated then we should start thinking of how to convert knowledge into action,” he said.

If you want to read the full article, please visit this link.

Environment Conservation Champions

Environment conservation is one of the hottest issues we find today. In fact, advertising and marketing companies have started to relate brands to the environment or join the bandwagon of going "green" to promote their brands and earn more profit. I have seen slogans saying "Green is in" and "Let's Save the Environment" almost everywhere. Even car manufacturers have started making "green vehicles" claiming their products emit less carbon dioxide and is made of environment friendly materials.

Going green is good. Last April 22, we celebrated Earth Day and a number of malls in Metro Manila asked Haribon Foundation to join them in their environment conservation awareness programs. There were clean ups, tree planting, story telling for kids, exhibits and even singing contests. People nowadays are more exposed to environment activities which I think will be beneficial for the next generations. One thing is lacking, though, Filipinos lack environment conservation champions.

While I was listening to a radio program last Earth Day, the DJs started a contest asking listeners to name famous people who are known to be environmentalists. Of course, a nice price will be awaiting the lucky contestant. Instantly, several listeners called and texted names like: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Al Gore, Oprah and several foreign celebrities. Only one contestant mentioned a Pinoy name, and he is Richard Gutierrez. Is he really and environment advocate? Don't we have Pinoy environmentalists? How about Chin Chin Guteirrez, Noel Cabangon and Joey Ayala? Are they really environment advocates or are they just joining the advocacy to increase their popularity? How about non-showbiz people? Politicians? Nahhh, too risky to trust them most especially now that elections are just around the corner.

Filipinos need an environment conservation champion to lead them. Last people to be known here were Celso Roque and Junie Kalaw. Do you know them? They were famous during the 80's and it has been 2 decades and nobody followed their footsteps. Hopefully somebody will step up and be a champion to the environment cause, not just as a spokesperson but a person who can start movements. Influence plays a major key and credibility will also be major factor. And a good leader must lead by example and must always be a good follower.

Earth Hour March 2009

We have been seeing a lot of publicity and information about the Earth Hour advocacy in print, billboards, tv and even in the internet that it is hard to ignore. Personally, the first time i knew about it was from the blogosphere and since then, i see it on streamers, billboards and even at moving billboard announcements in Makati City. As an environment conservation advocate, i already marked the date and time on my calendar at work and at home.

I do commend WWF's project and their ways to invite the public to be aware of conserving energy but i have to ask what will happen after 9:30pm on Saturday? If, for example, 1 million Filipinos join the activity and simultaneously turn off lights and all other electrical appliances, what will be the major effect? Being aware of environment conservation efforts is one thing but doing more than just turning off your lights is another thing. If 1 million Pinoys turn off their lights, we will save megawatts of electricity in a span of 1 hour. Saving electricity will lessen our dependency on fossil fuels. I do hope that after 9:30 pm, people will remember the advocacy of conserving energy and not just go back to their regular energy consumption.

What can we do to further support the project? I still believe planting a tree is one of the easiest and best way to help conserve our environment. Whether you plant a tree in your own backyard or join environment NGO's to other project sites, it is still a part of a long term solution. This summer, we can help the environment by doing very simple things. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Turn off unnecessary lights and electric equipment when not in use (monitors, tv, radio, fans)
2. Recycle your trash (plastics, bottles, old newspaper, boxes, cell phones)
3. Segregate biodegradable and non-biodegradable trash (please do this at home not just when going to malls)
4. Conserve water when washing clothes, dishes and even while washing you car.
5. Bring your own bags when you go shopping or when you go to the supermarket.
6. Bring your own mug or tall glass when buying coffee, a coffee shop gives discount if you provide your own container.
7. Maintain your car regularly. Have oil change and tune up regularly to avoid engine deterioration which causes smoke belching.
8. When going to the beach, diving or snorkelling, avoid getting coral souvenirs.
9. Avoid buying exotic animals for pets.
10. Try to maintain your gadgets (mobile phone, camera, music players, gaming consoles) for 2 or more years. Buying gadgets increase the manufacturer's demand for plastics and metals which pressures the mining industry. Mining as we know is a major player in environment destruction.

If you have other tips, please share. Our environment needs all the help it can get. Try not to blame politicians anymore. Politicians and government will always be there. Start within your own home and family. Let us focus on what we can do to at least make a difference in providing a healthy environment to our children and the next generations to come.

Walk The Green Mile

ELRO Commercial and Industrial Corporation, the exclusive distributor of Ipanema GB (Gisele Bundchen) Seeds Collection (Ipanema slippers) will have an environment awareness campaign together with Haribon Foundation on March 21, 2009, Saturday at the parking lot of Le Souffle, Serendra, Bonifacio Global City. The " Walk the Green Mile" project is a walkathon around the fort in support of Haribon Foundation's Road to 2020 project.

Registration is FREE, starts at 3pm and the walkathon will start at 5pm. I highly recommend the event so people could know the importance of supporting an environment awareness project within the limits of Metro Manila. It is also a good sign for a corporation to support a project by a non-government organization which also aligns them to have good corporate social responsibility efforts.

If you are anywhere near Makati or Taguig, you can drop by, observe and if you think you are interested to join, sign up and be a part of this environment awareness campaign. Who knows? You might get a gift pack or a pair of slippers from Ipanema if they decide to give a few slippers to lucky participants.

Leon's First Treeplanting Experience

Our son's first tree planting experience was last January 17, Saturday at Caliraya, Laguna. My wife and I are very proud of this achievement because he has already contributed a lot for the environment at a very young age. He participated last year at Haribon Foundation's Million Hectare Walk to help raise funds for the organization's reforestation projects and this year he also participated in planting more than 100 trees at the project site. He joined my wife's officemates and his two cousins in planting native trees to a site near the Caliraya Lake.

Although he was not able to plant tree seedlings himself, he was there to help dig the soil, remove the seedling bag from the plant, put back the soil and water the plant after. It was quite an experience because their group was assigned to plant more than 100 seedlings that were donated last December 2008.

Haribon Foundation has lined up a lot of activities for this year and I am sure this will not be the last time my son will join. I am eagerly waiting for him to grow up a little more for him to appreciate birdwatching activities starting October to February the following year. Art workshops, exhibits and even kite flying activities are also lined up so I guess it will be a good year for him to be exposed to these experiences.

Leon is just turning 2 this March and he has already contributed to conserve our environment and offset our carbon footprint. He is also a regular Haribon Foundation member since his birthday. Hopefully bloggers will also do their part either in joining the activities or just through donations. Bloggers can also help us spread the information by writing on their sites and asking their friends to support environment conservation efforts.

Climate Change

How does an ordinary person understand these two words? Climate change, how does this affect each individual? How can a person associate these two words to his or her everyday life?

I was employed for about 2 years at Haribon Foundation and I can say these two years are very fulfilling for me. I became a part of an environment conservation organization which goals are to help preserve our country's remaining natural resources specifically forest and marine areas. I was exposed to several project sites, communities and even a foreign country which prioritizes environment conservation for the benefit of future generations. I also got a chance to lead a project or a fund raising activity to help generate funds for the organization's project sites.

One of Haribon Foundation's advocacy is educate the people about climate change. Climate change is such a common word for us but we only associate these two words when we think about the environment. When we go home after work or school and we live in the comfort of our homes, especially if we have air conditioning at home, we seldom feel the effects of climate change. Come to think of it, we only associate climate change when we feel extreme heat or a sudden downpour of rain. Am I right?

To get straight to the point, we oftentimes miss the true meaning of these two words. Climate change affects everything. From our food, water, the air we breath, clothing, shelter which are our basic needs. Because of climate change, we eat instant food, buy mineral water, we seek homes, offices even malls to provide a cool atmosphere, and goal to buy a nice condo unit near our place of work. Because of deforestation, we can no longer get cheap and fresh food to eat and clean water to drink. Because of irresponsible environment planning, we cut the remaining trees in our surroundings which absorbs the carbon dioxide we emit. Because of lack of opportunities and irresponsible fishing and farming in the provinces, we migrate and congest cities. I could go on and on about the effects of climate change but i guess what we need to see are the solutions and not just blame our problems to our public officials.

What do i suggest as solutions?.... i will write on my next blog the simple ways on how we can help as an individual to help delay the severe effects of climate change.