Paul Aquino, Energy Development Corp. president and chief operating officer, yesterday said oppositors to EDC’s entry into the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park buffer zone for geothermal development are only highlighting the number of trees the firm will cut without discussing the mitigating measures it is already undertaking.

Even before EDC started operating in the buffer zone to meet Negros Occidental’s power deficit by 2010-2011, its has already reforested 536 hectares and planted more than 600,000 trees in Northern Negros since it started operations in 1994, the firm said in a press statement.

“They have mourned for the loss of the trees that we have cut. They should likewise rejoice and welcome the hundreds of thousands of trees that we have planted, which are already more than what is required of us in compliance with our MOA with the provincial government,” Aquino said.

“Also, please take note that we will still reforest the 400 hectares that we committed in the MOA for the next 5 years,” he added.

Aquino was reacting to reports that oppositors have been conducting information drives in schools and barangays, highlighting only the number of trees that EDC will cut as part of its expansion in the MKNP buffer zone without discussing the mitigating measures that the company is undertaking also as part of its operations.

Of thee 600,000 trees planted, the 300 hectares covered were private land, 100 hectares and another 50 hectares were planted inside the Mt.Kanlaon Natural Park in partnership with the Provincial Environment and Management Office and the Protected Area Management Board , respectively, while 86 hectares were planted in areas surrounding EDC’s geothermal facility in Murcia and Bago City, EDC said.

“Our reforestation project is an undeniable fact. If truth be told, we have already planted a total of 6.2 million trees on 14,313 hectares in all our geothermal sites,” Aquino said.

“It is quite unfortunate, however, that some people deliberately miss out on this reality and just focus on the trees in the buffer zone to gain sympathy. They also omit the information on what they have done to reforest or stop the charcoal making in Kanlaon which we have monitored when we used to patrol the park for the province in the late 1990s, “ he said.

On top of EDC’s reforestation projects for its Northern Negros Geothermal Production Field, the company went to the extent of inventing a new emission diffuser worth P1.5 million to trap geothermal sprays to minimize impacts on the forest cover, even as these impacts have been shown to be temporary, EDC said.

Rei Medrano, EDC’s manager for Corporate Social Responsibility, said the company will not only protect but also enhance the biodiversity of MKNP.

“We have established a nursery in Bago City that has 14 premium endemic species including 3.12 hectares of Almaciga, the first man-made almaciga plantation in the Philippines, and 21.35 hectares of mixed premium species. These are being produced using the mist irrigation system, he said.

He said their main objective is to create mother trees that will serve as sources of seeds for natural regeneration and production of reforestation planting materials, Medrano said.

Medrano said there are biologically accepted measures to replace the ecosystem services. One of these is the replacement of the trees that one has affected so that the ecosystem services such as water storage, release of oxygen and absorption of carbon dioxide will be restored, he said. *

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