The provincial government of Pangasinan, together with volunteers, have planted more than 500,000 tree seedlings in various parts of the province under its Green Canopy Program as of September this year.

“We have planted more than 500,000 trees and this second term we intend to plant another 500,000 to reach one million trees planted. So I invite all of you to join us in some of those tree planting events so you will see that we are pro-environment,” Governor Ramon Guico III said in a statement on Friday.

Most of the planted seedlings consisted of mangroves in coastal areas, bamboo and fruit-bearing trees such as calamansi, atis, jackfruit, avocado and guyabano.

The project, launched by Guico in 2023, is a multisectoral approach to promote co-ownership in protecting and caring for the environment, raise community awareness and education in planting and saving trees, mobilize stakeholders, and solicit community participation, the according Pangasinan Information and Media Relations Office.

Jose Estrada Jr., chief meteorological officer of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration in Dagupan City, emphasized the role of trees in protecting against flash floods, soil erosion and excessive heat.

He said the widespread urbanization and the absence of trees have contributed to higher heat indices, further impacting local communities.

During the El Niño in 2024, the province experienced heat index as high as 50 degrees Celsius and trees are also important to prevent soil erosion.

Meanwhile, Guico also explained the cutting of some trees in the capitol grounds in Lingayen town to give way to the development in the area.

“You have always been telling me that I am not pro-nature. Imagine, we are just putting the trees in the right place. The capitol complex is not a forest. We are building the proper infrastructure to prevent flooding in the future and to have enough area for us to develop more infrastructures, facilities. Like the 11-story capital plaza, which will house the provincial offices and some government, national government agencies,” he said.

He added that there will also be a 320-room internationally branded hotel for convention.

“We are just building the infrastructure necessary to invite more tourists and to make it more convenient for the general public. In terms of, you know, environmental-friendly capitol complex, a very walkable capitol complex. Very safe because we’ll be installing closed circuit television cameras and traffic light systems. Very historical because we will be building monuments that commemorate and remind us of what happened in the past. Especially the Second World War. And all of these have undergone thorough study,” he said. (PNA)