La Mesa Watershed Reforestation
Its instrument was a reforestation program in partnership with the ABS-CBN Foundation’s Bantay Kalikasan (Nature Watch) to contribute to efforts to reverse the massive denudation of the La Mesa watershed, the only forest of its size within Metro Manila. The project called for the planting of 47,822 trees on 76.5 hectares of the 2,700-hectare La Mesa Watershed.
Funded by a matching grant of US$75,472 from The Rotary Foundation, the project’s primary aim was to bring back to life the watershed, a major source of water for Metro Manila’s population of 12 million.
The La Mesa reforestation project was complemented by an awareness and advocacy program among the youth that included the creation of Angels Clubs in public elementary and high schools in Makati City. Angels, an acronym for Agents of the New Generation of Environment Lovers and Saviors, was a school-based organization aimed at deepening student interest and involvement in environment-related programs. It became the platform for students to undertake projects and activities to protect, preserve and renew the environment. Under Angels, students initiated solid waste management projects, mostly campaigns for 3Rs (reuse, reduce, recycle) and garbage segregation in schools.
The Club distributed saplings to 36 public schools in Makati and led students and teachers in tree-planting activities in Makati and Taguig. It also conducted workshops on environment issues in schools and barangays. The project came full circle with the installation by the Club of an elevated water tank and nine potable water drinking stations at Ecopark, the picnic and promenade area of La Mesa.
Significantly, the La Mesa project gave birth to the Makati Environment Foundation, Inc., EnvironMakati for short, an organization of environment advocates dedicated to the advancement of environmental causes through projects and activities that improve and safeguard the quality of air, water and land resources and preserve them for future generations.
EnvironMakati has an annual tree-planting program all over the city and has created school- and community-based awareness and advocacy campaigns relating to solid waste management, sanitation, and clean air.