The Aboitiz Group recently firmed up its long-standing commitment to the environment, partnering with the Philippine Business for Social Progress and the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. to plant an estimated one million trees and reforest large areas in Luzon and Visayas under the group’s flagship nationwide tree-planting program, A-Park.
These partnerships, valued at approximately P46 million, were affirmed by PBSP executive director Rey Laguda; Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. president and chief executive officer Erramon Aboitiz; PBSP president Armin Luistro; RAFI president and CEO Jon Ramon Aboitiz; and Aboitiz Foundation president Susan Valdez.
“The Aboitiz way has always emphasized the core value of responsibility, not just in our work, but equally important how we interact with our surroundings. A-Park trees will not only help combat climate change, but also provide livelihood opportunities for our community stakeholders,” Erramon Aboitiz said.
The A-Park program is a nationwide reforestation initiative of the Aboitiz Group, with the planted trees playing key roles in the group’s overall carbon sequestration thrust as well as the ongoing international action on climate change.
The program is also the Aboitiz Group’s contribution to the government’s greening efforts in partnership with the Department of Environment and Natural R esources. The Aboitiz Group, through A-Park, continues to be one of DENR’s largest National Greening Program partners to date.
As of end-2016, the Aboitiz Group has planted 5.4 million trees, each with an excellent seedling survival rate of 77 percent. This puts the Aboitiz Group well on track to growing nine million seedlings by end-2020, which are then estimated to sequester 189 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.
