New Law Requires Filipino Students To Plant 10 Trees To Graduate

• A new law in the Philippines requires all students to plant 10 trees to graduate.
• Rep. Gary Alejano, one of the authors of the bill, said children and young adults in the Philippines should be able to contribute to the environment.
• The law formalizes a tradition of planting trees upon graduation, in hopes to combat global climate change.

In order to graduate, students in the Philippines will now be required to do more than just maintain a passing grade. A new law will make it mandatory for those graduating from elementary school, high school, and college to plant at least ten trees before graduation.

The “Graduation Legacy for the Environment Act,” introduced by Congressman Gary Alejano encourages inter-generational collaboration and responsibility for the future of the environment. If properly applied, there’s a high possibility that it will result in as much as 525 billion trees.

Alejano said:

“While we recognize the right of the youth to a balanced and healthy ecology, there is no reason why they cannot be made to contribute in order to ensure that this will be an actual reality.”

The Department of Education and the Commission of Higher Education are responsible for implementing and ensuring compliance with the new law.

He added:

“Even with a survival rate of only 10 percent, this would mean an additional 525 million trees would be available for the youth to enjoy when they assume the mantle of leadership in the future.”

The Act noted that trees should only be planted in mangroves, existing forests, protected areas, military ranges, abandoned mining sites, and urban areas.

The Philippines is facing deforestation on a more severe level than many other countries in the world. The total forest cover in the country dropped from 70% to 20% during the 20th century, mainly due to an increase in illegal logging, the production and transport of timber in unauthorized areas.