Grow your green thumb: Your guide to getting involved in tree planting

Fostering Education & Environment for Development (FEED)

Fostering Education & Environment for Development (FEED) supports sustainable education and tree planting, aiming to grow, preserve, and protect Philippine biodiversity inclusively.

FEED has been working with the University of the Philippines, Los Baños (UPLB), since 2001, providing scholarships and supporting tree planting activities.

Through this, FEED "reforest over 9,000 hectares of indigenous Philippine woods in the Sierra Madre mountain range, also in consideration of generating sustainable agro-forestry livelihood opportunities for the local communities of Laguna and Quezon provinces."

To donate, you can go through this link. Each donation comprises a minimum of 10 trees that cost $3.49 or P200.54.

Haribon's Forests for Life Movement

The Haribon Foundation for the Conservation of Natural Resources, Inc. is a nature conservation organization in the Philippines.

Through their Forests for Life Movement, you can donate P488 (1 seedling) to help the organization for three years. You may opt to donate five seedlings (P2,440), 10 seedlings (P4,880), or 15 seedlings (P7,320). 

This donation covers rainforestation site preparation and native tree planting, seedling and site monitoring, site protection and maintenance, including replacement of destroyed seedlings, seedling production, nursery establishment, and conducting livelihoods, training, and incentives for partner communities.

GCash's GForest

Through the interactive climate tech platform GForest, you can contribute to the restoration of Philippine forests and combat climate change by reducing your carbon footprint and making the move to digital transactions.

In the platform, for every digital tree you plant in-app, GCash and its local partners will plant actual trees for you in strategic sites across the Philippines.

According to its website, GForest has planted over 2.5 million actual trees with its partners since it was launched in 2019.

There are various ways to do tree planting using this app. First, you can earn green energy points during your transactions.

In case you didn't know, green energy points will be earned when you complete transactions via GCash. These green energy points are "equivalent to the total carbon reduced by users by performing cashless transactions like Send Money, Buy Load, and Pay Bills."

Another way to earn green energy points is to link your daily footsteps with GForest.

For Android users, go to the Settings on their phone. Tap the Apps button, then go to Manage Apps. Select GCash and tap App Permission, then allow Physical Activity.

For iOS, go to Settings, tap Health, select GCash, and then click Enable Steps.

How do you use these earned green energy points to help plant a tree?

Users can collect earned green energy by going to the GForest tab. Upon the platform's homepage, you will need to tap the floating energy bubbles. Take note that you can also collect green energy points, which are available within 24 hours, from your friends by tapping on their names in the GForest dashboard.

After collecting such, tap Plant a Tree beside your "My Energy" tab; upon clicking it, you will select the tree you want to plant. Click Plant Now after reading the tree's description.

A certificate will be given once you're done. It will be updated with a stamp to confirm once the seedling has been planted in one of GCash's planting sites.

Philippine Eagle Foundation's "Planting for Future" 

The Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF), in collaboration with the Globe Group, has formally launched "Planting for the Future," an initiative that aims to plant three million trees.

One way to donate is also through GCash for cash donations. Globe subscribers can soon also convert their Globe Rewards points into donations via the GlobeOne app, which is equivalent to P1.

Likewise, users can donate by downloading the Globe Rewards app on their mobile devices. After accessing the app, click the Rewards banner, then look for the Philippine Eagle Foundation under the Donations tab.

Support may also be sent via Paypal, where individuals can adopt a tree for P250.

Planting on our own

Regardless of the mentioned projects, we can also be eco-warriors by planting trees by ourselves.

According to the Institute of Environmental Science for Social Change (ESSC) website, the best time to plant trees is in the rainy seasons.

"Planting between June and October will ensure the survival of your saplings, especially in the first few months after they are planted," it said.

It is advisable to start planting at 3 p.m. as doing so during this time will give the plant the following evening to recover from the trauma of transplantation.

Below are the general ways to plant trees, according to ESSC.

To begin, you will need materials such as a pick/hoe, barretta, shovel, hand spades, machete or bolo, and a water container.

Planting in sand

1. Using a shovel, dig a hole around 2 feet deep and 1.5 feet in diameter.
2. Fill the bottom with 4-6 inches of good soil, leaves and other compostable material.
3. Carefully remove the seedling from the seedling bag or pot.
4. Fill the gaps with soil or sand until the medium at the base of the sapling is about 1 inch below the surface level.
5. Gently press down on the soil surrounding the seedling.
6. Water your newly planted sapling by gently drizzling it, allowing water to flow from the top of the stem down to its base.
7. Cover the base of the newly planted sapling (2-3 feet in diameter)with a lot of dried leaves to prevent the soil from quickly drying up.
8. Stake your newly planted seedlings.

If the sapling to be planted is potted, one must water the potted sapling first to ensure the soil is compact. Then, carefully separate the soil from the pot in order not to damage any of the roots in the process. Immediately place the plant into the prepared hole.

Planting in firm mud

1. Create a hole.
2. Carefully remove the seedling from the seedling bag or pot.
3. Carefully place the soil holding the roots and base of the sapling into the hole.
4. Fill the gaps with mud.
5. Gently press down on the soil surrounding the seedling.
6. Stake your newly planted sapling.

Planting in dry, hard soil

1. Use a barretta to make the hole in the ground and loosen the soil.
2. Use a shovel to remove the loosened soil.
3. Fill the bottom with 4-6 inches of good soil, leaves and other compostable material.
4. Carefully remove the seedling from the seedling bag or pot.
5. Fill the gaps with soil until the medium at the base of the sapling is about 1 inch below the surface level.
6. Gently press down on the soil surrounding the seedling.
7. Water your newly planted sapling by gently drizzling it, allowing water to flow from the top of the stem down to its base.
8. Cover the base of the newly planted sapling, which is 2-3 feet in diameter.
9. Stake your newly planted seedlings.

Tree registration

According to the DENR Memorandum Circular No. 97-09, landowners' private tree plantations should first be registered through the agency to be approved for their timber harvesting.

The said memorandum also determines the "extent of tree planting on private land, facilitation of the processing of documentation requirements for future harvests and to set a means to recognize the participation of private landowners in the government's tree plantation development program."