BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO
QUEZON, Nueva Vizcaya: A British firm in Barangay Runruno here has celebrated Valentine’s Day through tree nurturing and tree-hugging activities on February 14.
James Carmichael, the activity was in support of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Forest Management Bureau (DENR-FMB) Joint Memorandum 2022-80 entitled, “Tree Hugging Campaign.”
Carmichael said the FCF Minerals Corporation’s Mine Environmental Protection and Enhancement Office or MEPEO spearheaded the hearts day celebration at the Radiohill Rehabilitation Area, RGMP Site in Runruno village.
Runruno, which hosts the Runruno Gold-Molydebnum Project of FCF Minerals, is a gold-deposit rich village that was discovered by artisanal miners in the 1960s and 1970s.
FCF Minerals, 100 percent owned by the London-based Metals Exploration Plc, is located more than 300 kilometers north of Manila.
Carmichael said the activity was attended by around 150 participants with a total of 100 large planting materials of diverse endemic and native forest tree species planted in the said rehabilitation area.
He said the tree-hugging activity was also conducted in commemoration of the “Tree Hugging Movement” also known as the “Chipko Movement,” a nonviolent social and ecological movement by rural villagers that originated in India in the 1970s.
The Chipko Movement was aimed at protecting forests by embracing trees to impede loggers from cutting trees in their ancestral lands.
“Our activity in Runruno was also aimed at raising awareness on the importance of trees in climate change mitigation and the psychosocial and mental health benefits of tree-hugging,” Carmichael said.