March 29, 2024
BUSOL TREES ACCOUNTING — The Baguio Water District has completed the initial accounting of 54 trees, with various species, located within the 3,000-square meter portion of the Busol watershed at Ambiong, Aurora Hill as part of its ongoing tree inventory program that restarted on March 7 as part of the program initiated in 2018 but was halted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. — Contributed photo

In line with the strategic goal of the Baguio Water District on Watershed and Environmental Leadership, personnel of its Watershed Section has completed on May 2 the initial accounting of tree species within the 3,000-square meter portion of the Busol watershed in Barangay Ambiong, Aurora Hill as part of its Tree Inventory Program.  

A total of 54 trees were taken into inventory from the Muyong of the Philippine Statistics Authority through the BWD Adopt-a-Watershed Program. Of these trees, seven species were identified, namely alnus (betulaceae), pine (pinacaea), cheery (prunusavium), eucalyptus (Eucalyptus blogobus), oak (quercus), tebbeg or fig (ficus), and bamboo (bambusa). 

The inventory team also identified 29 mature trees and 25 aspoles.

Mature trees are those close to maximum height, exhibiting reduced shoot elongation, or which start producing fruits and flowers while pole is a young tree stem between one and three  meters tall. 

The partial digitized tree inventory activity, which started in March, commenced with the geo-tagging activities from the BWD’s Geographic Information System Section.

Geo-tagging is the process of adding geographical information to various media in the form of metadata. The data usually consists of coordinates like latitude and longitude, but may even include bearing, altitude, distance, characteristics, age, and place names. 

BWD General Manager Engr. Salvador M. Royeca said the activity is a resumption of the Tree Inventory Program the agency conceived in 2018, where BWD called upon the assistance of the academe but was held back due to the Covid-19pandemic. 

The data acquired will be used to monitor the survival rate of mature trees including upcoming planting of seedlings, the establishment of an accurate tree inventory database, and develop a reference for management, education, and research for watershed conservation and protection. 

In April 2019, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources through then Secretary Roy Cimatu conducted and completed a general tree inventory in Baguio City. According to the DENR data, the city has 2.5 million trees, which is insufficient for its 370,000 population. – Mark Victor Pasagoy