Restoring our forests goes beyond an environmental mission; it is a collective national responsibility.

A new and potentially favorable partnership is in the works as the 93rd Infantry Battalion (93IB) of the Philippine Army under the command of Lt. Col. Celeste Frank Sayson, visited the Biodiversity Research Center (BRC) of the Visayas State University (VSU) to promote greater cooperation on the restoration of forests and conservation.

This partnership seeks to restore the degraded forestlands of Leyte by encouraging the planting of native trees through the Rainforestation method, a scientifically based method of forestry restoration developed by VSU that promotes the use of native tree species as a means of restoring biodiversity and ecological balance.

During the visit the team from the 93IB met with the VSU Director for Extension, Dr. Catherine C. Arradaza to discuss joint community engagement and extension programs. Such programs would promote the active stewardship of the environment on the part of soldiers and the inhabitants of local communities, thereby enhancing the cooperation between the military and the scientific world in the promotion of sustainable practices in forestry.

The Biodiversity Research Center was optimistic about this new partnership expressing the view that military support could greatly enhance conservation activities on the ground, habitat restoration, forest monitoring, and environmental education in rural areas.

The Center further pointed out that there is still the need for the study to be carried on in terms of technical co-operation on the part of foresters, ecologists, and fauna experts, in order that the forestry restoration should not only reforest the area but also save the endemic and endangered plant species which are characteristic of the forest ecosystems found in Leyte. This growing cooperation between VSU and the 93IB of the Philippine Army is indicative of a shared vision, the protection and restoration of the forests of the country.