West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services, Inc. (Maynilad) aims to plant around 20,000 native trees over 50 hectares of the Ipo and La Mesa watersheds during this year’s run of its annual “Plant for Life” tree-planting program.
Under the program, Maynilad partners with other environment-conscious organizations to hold reforestation activities in the watersheds that replenish water stores in dams, which supply the needs of water consumers. Reforesting the denuded portions of watersheds also helps to prevent calamities such as land erosion and flooding.
Among Maynilad’s partners this year is GMA Network, Inc., which adopted a one-hectare planting site, and planted 400 trees at Mt. Balagbag in Ipo through its Kapuso ng Kalikasan program.
Since the inception of “Plant for Life” in 2007, Maynilad has already planted almost 800,000 trees over 425 hectares of the Ipo and La Mesa watersheds, and expanded program coverage to Cavite coastal areas where it plants mangrove propagules along the Manila Bay shoreline. Meanwhile, the company’s stricter watershed monitoring activities helped to increase the survival rate of planted trees to an average of 80% in the last three years.
“Watersheds are an essential part of the system that allows for the continued provision of water supply for millions of people. Reforestation activities have to continue so we can reverse the effects of denudation and ensure water sustainability,” said Maynilad President and CEO Ramoncito S. Fernandez.
Maynilad holds its annual tree-planting activities at the Ipo and La Mesa watersheds between the months of June and October. Organizations interested in adopting a planting site may call the company’s Environment Management Department at 8981-3484 to determine the requirements.
Maynilad is the largest private water concessionaire in the Philippines in terms of customer base. It is a concessionaire of the MWSS for the West Zone of the Greater Manila Area, which is composed of the cities of Manila (certain portions), Quezon City (certain portions), Makati (west of South Super Highway), Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas and Malabon all in Metro Manila; the cities of Cavite, Bacoor and Imus, and the towns of Kawit, Noveleta and Rosario, all in Cavite Province.