Geothermal leader Energy Development Corporation took its BINHI: Tree for the Future project to the uplands of Bago City and Murcia town in Negros Occidental with a marathon tree planting activity held in nine schools recently.

The host schools which are also EDC's partners in delivering quality public school education in the area willingly provided planting spaces inside their campuses for endangered and premium Philippine tree species such as akle, almaciga, betis, igem, molave, nato, supa, and yakal-saplungan.

The tree species are the subject of the preservation effort of the BINHI: Tree for the Future project, which aims to rescue and secure the gene pool of the country’s endangered premium trees by planting and growing their seedlings into so-called “mother trees” in school grounds, public parks, and other safe havens. These mother trees would later on produce the seeds that will be used in future forestation projects.

School officials, teachers, parents and students joined hands with EDC employees in planting 100 seedlings of the above-mentioned tree species at the San Miguel Elementary School, F. Barandiaran Elementary School, Minoyan Elementary School, and Minoyan National High School in Murcia; and C. A. Dormido Elementary School, Mailum Elementary School, R. M. Araneta Elementary School, R&S Abindan Elementary School, and Ramon Torres Louisiana National High School in Bago City.

The two local government units host EDC’s Northern Negros Geothermal Production Field.

EDC’s goal is to bring the project in all 81 provinces of the country within three years. It has partnered with the Department of Education, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and LGUs to expedite project implementation. The company has already brought the project to Quezon City, Taguig City, Laguna and Leyte this year.

Apart from Tree for the Future, BINHI has three other modules, namely: Tree for Life (for bridging gaps of critical forest areas), Tree for Food (for livelihood of forest settlers) and Tree for Leisure (for ecotourism).