The National Greening Program (and What UP Can Contribute) Little has been known of President Aquino's National

Greening Program, a project intended to partly restore the country's forest cover by by 2016. Through Executive Order 26 signed by the President, the goals of the NGP has been articulated. The program aims to plant 1.5 billion trees in 1.5 million hectares of land from 2011 to 2016. On average, it will entail the DENR, the main agency in charge of the program, and other stakeholders to plant an average of 250 million trees in 250,000 hectares a year a target some observers highlighted as impossible under normal circumstances (Kahurani, 2011). In fact, the program wants to double the number of hectares the government have planted with trees in the last 25 years, a total of 750,000 hectares, seems to me a 'great Leap Forward', as Mao Zedong could have described it. But what is most striking about the program is that is does not aim to plant trees alone. In the executive order, it was highlighted that the NGP also aims to pursue other things: sustainable development for poverty reduction, food security, livelihood development, biodiversity conservation, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. In this, the government has recognized that environmental issues such as the loss of forest cover does have an impact to other social issues as well. With a tree being planted, the government will not just ensure healthy forest cover, but also giving communities addes sources of income and added protection when disaster strikes. The NGP is also designed to be a multi-sectoral initiative students, government employees, the private sector and civil society groups are encouraged to plant trees in suitable areas avaliable to them, such as parks and forest reserves. With that, it is good to ask: As a university, what can we contribute to the success of the NGP? Science, more specificially, our faculty and scientists inside the university, has a very important role in ensuring the success of the NGP. No group of people except our scientists can determine the key aspects of the program. They're in the best position to provide the answers to questions such as, Where we should plant specific trees? to Will the trees be affected by weather patterns in these area? Specifics such as soil composition, the terrain of the land, climate and biodiversity can help the policy makers decide on the details of the project. Politicians and bureaucrats can only offer policy, but science will ultimately recommmend the details of the program. As a Public Administration student, it is necessary for me to highlight certain government intricacies about the program. It is good to ask how the NGP was formed as policy, and if their targets would be feasible or not. Certain issues such as transparency and program monitoring is

also a concern, and the extent of participation of stakeholders, such as the private sector and civil society groups should also be highlighted. But since that the NGP is fairly new, it is impossible for now to predict its success; what we can do for now is monitor its progress. As members of the university, we can do more than our fair share to contribute to the NGP's success. The UP Campus, with more or less 500 hectares of land, can be a great location for the NGP. But our share surely does not end with that. Our colleges (not just the College of Science), acting as think-tanks, is in a great position to provide support of the NGP. Imagine CAL contributing poems, stories and other researches regarding the environment, Engineering to focus on technological applications that can help the project, or even BA regarding its feasibility. Indeed, it is not limited to CS what the university has to offer; each college can create its share in the promotion and monitoring of the project. We, as individuals, can also help in the project implementation and monitoring, offering advice to ensure that the goals of the program will be met. Also, students, faculty and other members of the community can also help in the promotion of the program through different forms of media in order to encourage not just people inside UP but outside of the university to contribute their share. UP is known to be active in social issues, hence environmental concerns should also be in our priority. After all, we are a university located center to the environment, such as our campus, with all its trees. The National Greening Program, with its ambitious goal, is a great opportunity for the university to prove that we, indeed, are serving the nation. Resources Used Kahurani, Elizabeth. "Phillipines' National Greening Program - Making the Impossible Happen." ASB. Partnership for Tropical Forest Margins. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. "National Greening Program." FAQs - National Greening Program. Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. "Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines." Briefer on the National Greening Program. Government of the Republic of the Philippines, 18 May 2011. Web. 19 Mar. 2012.