The provincial office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources said that Negros Oriental has a vast forest cover of about 28,121 hectares.
These include the areas in Mt. Talinis, Kakha in Sta. Catalina, Manjuyod, Ayungon-Bindoy, Jimalalud-La Libertad, Tayasan-Canlaon and Guihulngan City.
The Mt. Talinis area alone has approximately 19,000 hectares of forest cover, reaching out to parts of Dauin, Zamboanguita, Sibulan and Pamplona, Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office chief Charlie Fabre said.
Plantations undertaken by the DENR total 14,143 hectares, as indeed, with established reforestation areas in Basay, Bayawan, Zamboanguita, Siaton and towards the north of the province, he added.
Meanwhile, under the ongoing National Greening Program, about 21,909 hectares have been planted to various types of trees since 2013. The DENR has targeted to plant trees in 7,000 additional hectares, Fabre said.
Coffee, cacao, rattan, acacia and mangium are among the trees being eyed for planting this year, under the NGP in Negros Oriental, he added. (PNA/JFP)
