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ILOILO City – The Society of Filipino Foresters, Inc. (SFFI) urged Ilonggos to plant and grow at least 100 trees in their lifetime to be “carbon neutral.”
“Foresters are responsible for abating the impact of climate change,” explained SFFI national president Tommy Valdez.
Carbon neutral, also called carbon neutrality, is a term used to describe the action of organizations, businesses and individuals to remove as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as each put in to it. The overall goal of carbon neutrality is to achieve a zero carbon footprint. Carbon dioxide contributes to global warming and climate change.
SFFI held a four-day national convention here recently. It gathered 1,200 registered foresters in the country.
“Research showed that every Filipino is emitting 900 kilos of carbon dioxide and to offset that, we need to plant 100 trees, each of us, to cover our carbon footprint,” said Valdez.
SFFI’s “I am Carbon Neutral” campaign is a public-private partnership initiative that engages the citizenry to grow trees to absorb their carbon emissions.
Valdez said about 40 percent of carbon dioxide are absorbed by the soil and 60 percent by trees.
“We are promoting the science of forestry,” said Valdez.
With this year’s convention theme, “Advancing Sustainable Forest Management to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals”, discussions emphasized Forest Landscape Restoration Mechanisms, Mining Rehabilitation through Forestry, and Carbon Neutral Program.
Other topics included Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Policy Advocacies, SDG Implementation Mechanisms and SDG Opportunities for the Forestry Profession.
Valdez said one of the things their organization was working on was passing a bill on Sustainable Forest Management that had been pending in Congress.
SFFI is one of the founding organizations of the Council for the Built and Natural Environments under the Philippine Federation of Professional Associations. It serves as the only nationwide organization of professional Filipino foresters open to the more than 10,000 Registered Professional Foresters. (PNA)
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