Maynilad Water Services Inc. has pledged to plant 220,000 trees over 660 hectares this year to reforest watersheds that are vital sources of water supply for Metro Manila residents.
The company said this is the highest number of trees that it has ever targeted to plant in a single year.
Under Maynilad’s annual Plant for Life program, the company rallies volunteers from government agencies, private companies and other organizations to reforest denuded watersheds, which will help prevent soil erosion and protect the quality of water supply for consumers.
For this year, the company said it will plant indigenous tree species like bamboo, palosapis, narra, kupang, dungon, amisan and balayong at the Ipo watershed in Bulacan and La Mesa watershed in Quezon City.
Maynilad partners with Bantay Gubat and the indigenous communities to ensure the survival of the trees planted by caring for the saplings and maintaining a tree nursery at the site.
Since the Plant for Life program’s inception in 2007, Maynilad has planted more than 1.2 million trees and mangroves over 1,308 hectares of planting sites at the Ipo, La Mesa and Kaliwa watersheds and the coastal areas of Laguna Lake and Manila Bay.
Maynilad said the program so far has enabled the company to reduce its carbon emissions by around 30,000 tons per year, which is equivalent to 7,140 cars off the roads as it aims to be climate neutral by 2037.
“Protecting the watersheds is part of the effort to ensure reliable water service for our customers. By planting trees, we not only prevent the soil erosion that could affect raw water quality, we also promote climate resilience and the sustainability of our water sources for future generations,” Roel Espiritu, Maynilad chief sustainability officer, said in a statement.
Maynilad is the largest private water concessionaire in the Philippines in terms of customer base serving the cities of Manila, Quezon City, Makati, Caloocan, Pasay, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, Navotas and Malabon as well as the cities of Cavite, Bacoor and Imus, and the towns of Kawit, Noveleta and Rosario in Cavite province.
