30 April 2016, Balintawak, Philippines. As part of the company’s commitment to strengthening its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs, iOPEX Technologies’ 33 staff and volunteers including management opted to plant Bougainvilleas along the Northern Luzon Expressway (NLEX) with FEED and “Living Legacy” Partners Manila North Tollways Corporation and Tollways Management Corporation (part of the MVP Group of Companies) last Saturday, April 30th, 2016.
In a 2013 study conducted by the Department of Botany of Shivaji University in Maharashtra, India, the carbon sequestration of 1314 trees of 38 species present at the university campus was studied to demonstrate an appreciation of the importance of trees – eventually published in the Nature Environment & Pollution Technology, International Quarterly Scientific Journal (ISSN: 0972-6268, Vol. 12, No.4, pg.725-726, 2013):
“The current hot issue of climate change, is widely accepted not just as an environmental issue but one with severe socioeconomic implications across the globe. The main reason for changing climate is greenhouse gases. The principal greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases that enter into the atmosphere due to the anthropogenic activities. Among all of these, carbon dioxide is the most significant greenhouse gas and its emis- sion is hypothetically strongest contributory factor in global warming. So, escalating carbon emission is one of today’s major apprehensions.
Trees are most important elements on the earth as they play a significant role in ecosystem dynamics. They absorb carbon dioxide, reduces their level, improve the property value and contribute to aesthetic beauty. The plants are important sinks for atmospheric carbon as they have about 50% carbon dioxide in their standing biomass (Ravindranath et al. 1997). Importance of forested areas in carbon sequestration is already accepted, and well documented (FSI 1988, Tiwari & Singh 1987). However, in the modern era due to industrial and technological advancement the vegetation has undergone destruction and degradation by human activities. This development has resulted in emissions of carbon in the atmosphere. Therefore, there is an urgent need to deal with environmental issues”.
Source: http://isindexing.com/isi/papers/1407034442.pdf
Plant Types Based on their Habit (General Form)
As per another study on The Potential of Native Woody Plants for Enhancing Urban Waterways and Water Bodies Environment in Singapore (National University of Singapore, Hugh T. W. Tan and C. K. Yeo, 2009), “Bougainvillea (Bougainvillea ‘Elizabeth Angus’) is a scandent* plant. If short enough, it can support itself, but when the branches and stem grow longer, they hang down, and will overflow flower beds” – as evidenced by the Bougainvilleas planted along the Subic-Clarke-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) today, which require minimum water and maintenance particularly in lieu of rising temperatures in the Philippines. (These plants are currently being relocated due to inevitable road expansions).
Plants are divided into various types based on the general form they take. Specifically, they can be divided into:
- Woody (possessing wood in their stems and roots), such as trees, treelets, shrubs, scadent* plants (e.g. bougainvillea), or climber/trailers; or
- Non-woody (herbaceous; without woody tissues, with softer, more flexible tissues), such as herbs, climber/trailer/creepers, such as cucumber, carpet grass, kangkong or the money plant.
Source: https://lkcnhm.nus.edu.sg
In this study, the amount of carbon in standing woody biomass of trees in the university campus was calculated. The trees were sampled by putting a quadrate of size 20m × 20m at different sites, and carbon sequestration was calculated by using the formula given by Chavan (2010). The study calculated the standing biomass of the above ground woody parts of the trees in the University campus.
*Considered also a “half-climber” (like the jasmin species), the Bougainvillea spectabilis Willd species specifically when measured at its height of about 13.4 ft, had an average sequestration of 14.4 tones/year and .280 tones of carbon/year.
Bougainvillea (/ˌbuːɡᵻnˈvɪliə/ or /ˌboʊɡᵻnˈvɪliə/) is a genus of thorny ornamental vines, bushes, and trees with flower-like spring leaves near its flowers, recognised to have between 4 – 18 species in the genus. They are native to South America, and in the Philippines (Mexico, Guatemala and Cuba) are also known as “bugambilia“. Aside from servicing highway beautification purposes, bougainvilleas also grow throughout dry seasons, provide natural, thorny fencing for the promotion of highway safety, and are relatively pest-free plants. Though they may suffer from worms, snails and aphids – they also play a role in our ecosystem, as the larvae of some Lepidoptera species also use them as food plants, e.g. the giant leopard moth (Hypercompe scribonia).
Trees remove atmospheric carbon through photosynthesis, that stores a tremendous amount of carbon in their structures. They act as a major CO2 sink which captures carbon from the atmosphere and stores it in the form of fixed biomass. Therefore, growing trees in the urban areas having a potential role regarding the accumulation of atmospheric CO2 in the form of biomass.
Join us. Become a FEED Fan by establishing your “Living Legacy: Plant a Tree, FEED Our Future”!
About iOPEX Technologies
Founded in 2009, the demand for specialized optimization services helped iOPEX grow to over 1,300 employees in five years. iOPEX is a new-generation business services provider offering optimized IT management services – process innovators focused on extracting the best out of the investments clients have already made. See more: http://www.iopex.com
(c) FEED, Inc. 2016. For happy tree planting and hugging, contact: Anne-Marie Mananquil Bakker, VP Operations at FEED via email to info@feed.org.ph or by mobile (text/call with your full / company name please) +63 (0) 917 552 4722 / 4730.