Cebu CENRO needs 500 volunteers for tree-planting program to compensate affected trees due to BRT project

A GREENING program intended to compensate for the 2,182 trees that will be earth-balled to pave the way for the Bus Rapid Transit project in Cebu City will be in full swing next month and at least 500 volunteers are needed. City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) head Ma. Nida C. Cabrera said they will plant 350,000 trees in identified forest lands. The schedule is: April 6 in Barangay Buhisan, April 13 in Barangay Tabunan, and April 27 in Barangays Buhisan and Quiot. She added that about 12,000 trees will also be planted in some barangays covered by the BRT route. The BRT project will require the “harvesting or cutting” of 197 trees out of the 2,182 identified trees affected by the project. These 197 trees are the ones that have minimal chance of survival. Those that will be earth-balled will be placed in river-parks and open spaces. — The Freeman