CEBU CITY, Cebu (PNA) — The Department of Education (DepEd) in Region 7 is intent on restoring the region’s ailing biodiversity by planting more endemic trees, which have been neglected with the introduction of exotic trees.

In connection, the agency is working with the Soil and Water Conservation Foundation (SWCF) in creating awareness in schools about the role native trees play in the ecosystem.

SWCF Project Coordinator, Arnold Echevarria Jr., said planting native trees can help save the country’s endangered species.

In Cebu and Bohol, the Foundation, which started working with DepEd -7 last September, has provided seedlings of native trees to seven secondary schools and one elementary school, all of which serve as pilot areas for the project.

The project has entailed the distribution of 150 different species of trees, with funding from the Foundation of Philippine Environment, to each of aforesaid schools. ”We decided to choose schools as our beneficiaries so that the project will become sustainable,” Echevarria said.

For his part, DepEd - 7 Project Training Coordinator Roland Villegas said native dipterocarp trees like apitong and lawaan provide shelter and food to native birds.

”Many animals will be restored once we have many of these trees,” he said.

Echevarria said some “exotic” trees bear fruits that have toxic substances which can harm organisms. Others absorb more water than nativ  trees, worsening the country’s shortage of water, he said.

In the future, Villegas said they aim to replicate the project in other schools. “Planting trees is the best solution to climate change,” he stressed.

DepEd - 7 is organizing workshops for teachers and school officials in the region, in connection with the National Government’s National Greening Program (NGP) which aims to plant 1.5 billion trees in the country in the next five years.

Emiliano Elnar Jr., NGP coordinator of DepEd – 7 said the agency aims to plant 60 million trees in Central Visayas with the help of an estimated 1.5 million students and teachers within a five-year period.

Echevarria said people should take planting seriously. “When we plant a seedling, it should be handled like a baby,” he said.