and then when you are done, get some drinks and maybe some chips or carrots sticks (whatever!) because this is gonna be quite a long post.After almost a week in Puerto Princesa we went to Narra where our tree farms are located. We went to our usual accommodation - La Vista Resort to drop our luggages and stretch a bit after our two hour journey.
Anyway, more about the farm - we have been planting trees for several years now for ourselves and other people who would like to have trees of their own. People can buy trees as gift to their loved ones or even as an investment.
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Trees are among the earth’s most useful and beautiful products of nature. Trees are crucial to mankind’s survival. The oxygen we breathe is released by trees and other plants - two mature trees provide enough oxygen for a family of four; trees prevent erosion; trees provide food, shelter, and material for animals and man. As trees grow they help reduce global warming by removing carbon dioxide from the air, storing carbon in the trees and the soil, and releasing oxygen into the atmosphere. One acre of trees removes 2.6 tons of carbon dioxide per year. Investing in trees helps improve our environment! |
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Trees planted on farms offer to woodworkers an alternative to material acquired through rainforest clear-cutting, in this way relieving some of the pressure in the remaining world’s rainforests. |
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Our tree farms benefit the local community by providing much needed employment in the area. We still have land available for tree farming and there are many opportunities in acquiring deforested land in the same area. The more trees we can plant the more families will be employed. |
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Our long term vision for the future use of the land we own is to convert it into a protected privately owned forest by means of an ecological easement of the land. As a matter of fact we already allocated sub areas within our tree farms to non-commercial plants and trees without intention of harvesting them. The fruit and shelter trees are planted to provide habitat for wildlife, in particular birds. |
When we are around our trees and in the farm - we just feel so relaxed and at one with nature. It was great to be there.
We were surprised by the welcome we received. As we step out of our car, we were swarmed with happy faces. As you can see, the children take Jules’ right hand and place it on their foreheads - it is a sign or respect. It’s called “pag mamano” - ( kissing an elder person’s hand) mano means hand in spanish. The students and teachers have prepared a program for us to show their appreciation for the things (school items) we have sent them six months ago which I collected from the good people of Freecycle here in Singapore.
