2 July 2019, Siniloan, Laguna – Sierra Madre Mountain Range. 600 indigenous Philippine forest trees were planted by 96 Eco-Warriors from the Regulatory Affairs – Global Drug Development team of Novartis Healthcare Philippines, Inc. and Novartis Employees Savings and Credit Cooperative, Inc.

Additionally, a PHP10,000 contribution to the FEED Scholarship Fund for Agro-Forestry & Livelihood Practical Programs & Research was also included in their donation, funds of which will be allocated directly and fully towards a deserving Filipino/a scholar pursing practical studies in sustainability and related studies in 2019.

After registration, refreshments and breakfast, the participants were briefed about FEED and its scholarship and climate change action programs; followed by a technical talk by Forester Rey Lorida’s Status of Philippine Forests 2018 updated, which generated much concern amongst participants about how we could each take steps to help.

The 96 Novartis strong team of Eco-Warriors then proceeded to a 20 minute moderately paced accessible forest trail to reach their site from base camp, accompanied by 15 forest guards who assisted their trek to their planting site of less than a hectare at around 1,620 ft uplands in the Sierra Madre mountain range of the Laguna Quezon Land Grant of FEED’s Living Legacy partner of almost 20 years, the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB).

600 indigenous Philippine forest tree seedlings (average 9 months old each) were planted in 50 minutes, as the site had been prepared earlier the same morning by the forest guards – who typically spend their days traversing the over 9,000 hectare protected forest – also ensuring the protection and maintenance of trees, some of which are centennials.

Advanced site preparation is necessary to ensure standardisation in approach and application of species planted, with 1 meter spacing in between and 12 inch deep dug holes – mimicking the species selection and behavioural growth of trees appropriate to that part of the ridge.

“Our ambition is to be a catalyst for positive change and a leader in environmental sustainability….We aim to drive sustainability through our own operations, as well as those of our suppliers, and we have set ambitious targets to minimize our impacts on climate, waste and water. We have already made significant progress. While Novartis Group sales have more than doubled in 15 years, our consumption of energy and water has increased at a much slower pace and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been reduced.” – Novartis on becoming an environmentally sustainable business

FEED and Novartis are both are signatories of the UN Global Compact, a voluntary initiative based on CEO commitments to implement universal sustainability principles and to take steps to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals, one of which is to encourage and work in multi-sectoral, multi-disciplinary partnership towards taking climate change action – for no one agency or person can make it happen alone (Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development).

Thank you Novartis Eco-Warriors – may the FOREST be with you, always!

HC	Last Name	First Name	Groupings		49	Pineda	Karen	Trekking
1	Reyes	Nina Winrose	Trekking		50	Ruz	Alma	Trekking
2	Santamaria	Maleen	Trekking		51	Sabanal	Admon	Trekking
3	Grefal	Marie April	Trekking		52	Siscar	Marita	Nursery
4	Argana	Cristina	Nursery		53	Sonsona	Bing	Trekking
5	Domingo	Francis	Nursery		54	Sy	Maynard	Trekking
6	Tria	Allen	Trekking		55	Terrado	Ihris Jay	Trekking
7	Cercado	Ephraim	Trekking		56	Yap	Kim	Trekking
8	Chua	Pamela	Trekking		57	Apolis	Eika Grace	Nursery
9	Dominguez	Katrina Paula	Trekking		58	Chau	Nguyen Tien	Trekking
10	Vargas	Maryann	Trekking		59	Viyokom	Soraya	Trekking
11	Delgado	Analyn	Trekking		60	Guino	Jan Michael	Trekking
12	Macatuggal	Marie Louise	Trekking		61	Espino	Cris	Trekking
13	Reyes	Angelica	Trekking		62	Sison	Gottard	Trekking
14	Puente	Kristine Anne	Trekking		63	Masicat	Kenjie	Trekking
15	Rubillar	April Nicholi	Trekking		64	Santillan	Rochelle	Trekking
16	Berdin	Lucelle	Nursery		65	Valerio	Dennis	Trekking
17	Barandon	Michelle	Trekking		66	Molina	Mary Jane	Trekking
18	Ricafort	Melissa	Trekking		67	Canelas	Mildred	Nursery
19	Shimizu	Yu	Trekking		68	Palma	Erwin	Trekking
20	Urias	Justine	Trekking		69	Navarro	Nikka	Trekking
21	Joaquin	Francesca	Trekking		70	Reyes	Jay Kris	Trekking
22	Lozano	Madonna	Trekking		71	Tsumura	Jugo	Trekking
23	Tayamora	Rachel	Trekking		72	Espano-Rivera	Trish	Nursery
24	Francisco	Adrian	Trekking		73	Ramirez	Karen	Trekking
25	Sosa	Mary Bernadette	Trekking		74	Sayson	Suntee	Trekking
26	Co	Kristelyn	Trekking		75	Castillo	Jian	Trekking
27	Dizon	Marvelyn	Trekking		76	Evaristo	Smile	Trekking
28	Pangan	Eileen	Trekking		77	Betia	Anne	Trekking
29	Paulino	Leslie	Trekking		78	Rosini	Carol	Nursery
30	Soto	Christian	Trekking		79	Castillo	Alquin	Trekking
31	Tuazon	Clairemarie	Trekking		80	Clarin	Cheryl Marie	Trekking
32	Lirazan	Rita	Trekking		81	Mercado	Merloisa	Trekking
33	Bo	Vincent	Trekking		82	Gomez	Marie Mirasol	Nursery
34	Garcia	Irene	Trekking		83	Alegre	Runith	Trekking
35	Guenez	Riquemar	Trekking		84	Criste	Roschelle	Trekking
36	Cuenco	Sonny	Trekking		85	Domingo	Malvin	Trekking
37	Fajardo	Jocelyn	Trekking		86	Mangubat	Jocelyn	Nursery
38	Santiago	Joanna Marie	Trekking		87	Panganiban	Jerald	Nursey
39	Luistro	Rachelle Louise	Trekking		88	Cunanan	Edith	Nursery
40	Rivera	Thessa Mia	Trekking		89	Catacutan	Marvin John	Trekking
41	Arcaira, Jr.	Benjamin	Trekking		90	Drueco	Joshua	Trekking
42	Bueno	Cara Marie	Trekking		91	Nalundasan	Roberto	Trekking
43	Apolonio	Jinkie	Trekking		92	Calingasin	Anna Liza	Trekking
44	Giron	Maria Luisa	Trekking		93	Malacad	Aileen	Trekking
45	Addatu	Jun	Trekking		94	Claud	Cyril	Trekking
46	Chua	Charel	Trekking		95	Tan	Catherine	Trekking
47	Licop	Anna	Trekking		96	Vales	Rosamar Reena	Trekking

Photo Slideshow – Novartis Tree Planting

Photo Journal – Novartis Nursery Establishment

About NOVARTIS & Corporate Responsibility

Our commitment: improving health through responsible business

We aim to improve global health. Through our business, we make an important contribution to society: We discover and develop innovative medicines. Novartis collaborates with others to help address some of the world’s greatest health challenges. We focus our corporate responsibility work on two areas that underscore our mission of caring and curing: expanding access to healthcare and doing business responsibly.

Expanding access to healthcare

We work to control and eliminate diseases such as malaria and leprosy, pioneer new business approaches to reach underserved patients, and find new treatments and adaptive solutions to improve health in developing countries.

Doing business responsibly

This is a core part of Novartis. We are committed to creating a culture of integrity and demonstrate ethical leadership – because as a global leader in healthcare, we have a responsibility to serve as a role model in how we conduct our business. We also care for our associates, work to positively contribute to our communities, and strive for environmental sustainability.

More here: https://www.novartis.com.ph

The Best Technology for Fighting Climate Change Isn’t a Technology – Forests are the most powerful and efficient carbon-capture system on the planet.

By Han de Groot on December 5, 2018

The latest IPCC report  does not mince words about the state of our planet: we must act now to achieve global change at a scale that has “no documented historical precedent” in order to avoid the climate catastrophe that would result from a 2 degree C rise in average global temperature. Climate change already disproportionately affects the world’s most vulnerable people including poor rural communities that depend on the land for their livelihoods and coastal communities throughout the tropics. Indeed, we have already seen the stark asymmetry of suffering resulting from extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, floods, droughts, wildfires and more.

So far, advocates and politicians have tended to focus on reducing fossil fuel consumption through technology and/or policy, such as a steep carbon tax, as climate solutions. These proposals are, of course, essential to reducing manmade carbon emissions—71 percent of which are generated by just 100 fossil fuel companies. For this reason, fossil-fuel–related emissions reductions rightly figure heavily in the national climate commitments of the 181 nations that signed the global Paris Agreement.

Yet the international focus on fossil fuels has overshadowed the most powerful and cost-efficient carbon-capture technology the world has yet seen: forests. Recent scientific research confirms that forests and other “natural climate solutions” are absolutely essential in mitigating climate change, thanks to their carbon sequestering and storage capabilities. In fact, natural climate solutions can help us achieve 37 percent of our climate target, even though they currently receive only 2.5 percent of public climate financing.

Forests’ power to store carbon dioxide through the simple process of tree growth is staggering: one tree can store an average of about 48 pounds of carbon dioxide in one year. Recent research shows intact forests are capable of storing the equivalent of the carbon dioxide emissions of entire countries such as Peru and Colombia.

For this reason, policy makers and business leaders must create and enforce ambitious policies and incentives to prevent deforestation, foster reforestation of degraded land, and support the sustainable management of standing forests in the fight against climate change. Protecting the world’s forests ensures they can continue to provide essential functions aside from climate stability, including producing oxygen, filtering water and supporting biodiversity. Not only do all the world’s people depend on forests to provide clean air, clean water, oxygen, and medicines, but 1.6 billion people rely on them directly for their livelihoods.

Unfortunately, we are fighting a crisis of deforestation, much of it driven by conversion to agricultural lands to produce a handful of resource-intensive commodities, despite zero-deforestation commitments from companies and governments. With increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide, insufficient emissions reductions and continued high rates of deforestation, urgent action is needed to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

Now is the time to increase investment in and attention to forest protection and restoration. In doing so, we will also address a number of other pressing global issues. For example, increasing tree cover can help address the problem of food security in many areas. Trees can enhance farm productivity and provide farmers with another source of revenue through the sale of fruits, nuts or timber—all while storing carbon dioxide. It is estimated that increased investment in the multi-strata agroforestry area could help sequester up to 9.28 gigatons of carbon dioxide, while saving a net $709.8 billion by 2050. In production landscapes where large-scale tree cover increases are difficult, agroforestry serves as an attractive compromise.

And in less-developed, rural areas—especially in the tropics—community-based sustainable forest management programs can provide pathways out of poverty. In the Petén region of Guatemala, for instance, community-managed forests have boasted a near-zero deforestation rateover the past 14 years, as compared to 12 percent in nearby protected areas and buffer zones. These communities have built low-impact, sustainable forest-based businesses that have bolstered the economy of the region enough to fund the creation of local schools and health services. Their success is especially poignant in a region otherwise besieged by deforestation; outside the community-managed zones, deforestation rates increase by 20x.

Finally, landscape restoration promises an unparalleled return on investment, in terms of ecosystem services and carbon sequestered and stored. Landscape restoration could potentially sequester up to 1.7 gigatons of carbon dioxide every year, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Reforestation projects can also intersect neatly and positively with human systems—restored forests provide a renewed resource base and new economic opportunities for communities.”

Source: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/the-best-technology-for-fighting-climate-change-isnt-a-technology/

Contact FEED

FEED runs a number of Students and Volunteers for the Environment (SAVE); Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) – such as mangrove planting for coastal protection or ridge reforestation plantings; One Child, One Tree; Bio-Intensive Gardens (BIG) for nutrition in public elementary schools and other spaces; Climate Change Survival 101 and other LIVING LEGACY programs – customised environmental engagement activities for individuals and organisations interested in contributing to climate change adaptation efforts and greening critical areas such as watersheds, ridges, and reefs that all require rehabilitation.

Tree-Planting with FEED: Video 

Check out the video journey by Clueless Commuter who planted with us last 24th of June 2017 to get a good idea of how FEED plantings go: https://youtu.be/KROn4rjVqBg

Contact us at FEED for more details, to join our regular activities or to design your own CSR Program: info@feed.org.ph or call/text +63 (0)917 552 4722.

© Fostering Education & Environment for Development, Inc.