ILOILO Province has planted nearly eight million trees in six years, as reported by this paper yesterday. That is an impressive number. But another figure deserves even greater attention: only 45 percent of the planted seedlings had survived as of 2025.
That number should fundamentally change the way Iloilo looks at reforestation.
From 2021 to 2026, the provincial government, 43 local government units and partner organizations planted 7,925,778 trees under the TANUM Iloilo Program. The long-term ambition is equally impressive: increase the province’s forest cover to 33 percent, or 56,670 hectares, and make Iloilo a “Forest Province” by 2044.
But forests are not created by counting seedlings as they enter the ground. They are created by keeping trees alive.
A 45-percent survival rate means that, for every 100 seedlings planted, fewer than half were still surviving when monitored. The Provincial Government and Natural Resources Office (PGENRO) expects that figure to improve once the 2026 monitoring results are included, but the existing data already offers an important lesson: the difficult part of reforestation begins after the photo opportunities, speeches and planting ceremonies are over.
Planting is an event. Growing a forest is a commitment.
This distinction must become the foundation of Iloilo’s reforestation strategy. If the province continues to measure accomplishment primarily by the number of seedlings planted, it risks confusing activity with results. A million seedlings planted cannot automatically be called a million trees added to the province’s forests.
The real measure should be how many remain alive after one year, three years, five years and beyond.
PGENRO itself has identified the challenge. Continuous monitoring and protection are critical, particularly against disturbances such as stray animals and forest fires during the summer months. Barangay officials, volunteers and LGUs are already helping monitor planting sites. That effort must now become as systematic and aggressive as the planting itself.
Every major planting site should have an identifiable caretaker or responsible local unit. Survival rates should be monitored by area and planting year. Dead seedlings should be replaced when appropriate. Firebreaks and other protection measures should be strengthened in vulnerable upland areas. Communities surrounding reforestation sites must be given a continuing role — and responsibility — in protecting what has been planted.
Most importantly, survival data should become as publicly prominent as planting data. When government announces that another 10,000 or 100,000 seedlings have been planted, the public should eventually be told how many survived. This is not meant to diminish the work of government agencies, volunteers and communities. On the contrary, it would make their work more meaningful because success would be measured by ecological impact rather than sheer planting volume.
Iloilo has already demonstrated that sustained environmental intervention can produce results. Its forest cover now stands at 18.35 percent, compared with only about two percent during the 1980s and 1990s. Earlier interventions eventually pushed it to around 12 percent before subsequent programs continued the effort. That progress deserves recognition. But reaching 33 percent forest cover by 2044 will require a more demanding standard.
The next evolution of TANUM Iloilo should therefore be from a tree-planting campaign into a tree-growing program. Anyone can put a seedling into the ground in a few minutes. Growing that seedling into a mature tree requires years of protection, monitoring, maintenance and community stewardship.
By 2044, nobody will remember how many photographs were taken during tree-planting activities or how many seedlings were distributed at ceremonies. What will matter is whether Iloilo has more forests.
