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By Jeffrey Chua
ON February 16, Xavier School students underwent
the school’s first-ever tree planting activity entitled
“Rainforestation— Restore the Forests.” Together with Haribon
Foundation, a trip to Caliraya Lake, Cavinti, Laguna, gave us a
first-hand experience in restoring the natural environment by
planting native tree-species. The experience increased our
environmental appreciation and ecological knowledge.
From school heading to Cavinti, Laguna, it was
undoubtedly a very long trip; it took our bus nearly three hours to
reach it. However, despite the lengthy travel time, the activity was
a great success. It was indeed an awakening experience right from
the very beginning. Caliraya Lake is a clean and pleasant place,
free from the harmful smog, fumes, and trash that so often pollute
the environment of urban cities. The grass is green, the air is
fresh, and the water is sparkling clean. In today’s modern age,
it’s certainly becoming harder and harder to find a place that can
provide a natural retreat from the hustle and bustle of city life,
but Caliraya Lake is still able to do so. After we got off the bus,
we were greeted with a stunning landscape. With the tour guide on
the lead, we continued to explore the place, still spellbound by
Caliraya Lake’s natural surroundings.
From where we were, one could easily compare the
natural, unspoiled beauty of Caliraya Lake to the polluted streets
of urbanized cities. Trees are plentiful. The roads are dirt-free.
The smell of air is wonderful. Up ahead, birds happily fly around
the sky. Here is a place where we could still see a glimpse of one
of the few remaining places in the world where natural splendor is
still uncorrupted by man. As we hiked atop a small hill, the tour
guide gave us a short orientation about Haribon’s efforts in
helping to preserve the sanctity of nature, as well as how we can
contribute to improve the welfare of the environment.
After the orientation, our activity commenced.
Here, we got a taste of what it’s actually like to be of help in
contributing something to improve the environment. Atop the small
hill, several plastic-potted plants awaited to be planted in the
rich soil that would make them grow. Wearing our garden gloves, we
used our hands to dig out the soil in order to create a small hole.
After that, we removed the plastic off the plants and then gently
placed them on the small holes that we’ve created. Finally, we
pour back the fresh soil, as the plants settled in into their new
home.
After the activity was finished, the once barren
hilltop was now brimming with several baby plants. These plants,
I’m sure, would be of great help in continuing to improve the
well-being of the environment. After the activity, we had our lunch.
It’s certainly a good feeling to be having a picnic in Caliraya
Lake. The blowing cool breeze was refreshing. Nearby, there were
several small creeks with fishes happily swimming. As the day closed
to an end, we finally returned to to our bus. Going to Caliraya Lake
was a fruitful experience, and I’m hoping to come back there very
soon.
The activity truly helped me appreciate the
environment more and made me realize how important it is for us.
Things like global warming, acid rain, depletion of the ozone layer,
climate change, and polluted air all have been the result of our
careless mishandling of the environment.
As we continue to pollute the world, these
problems will increase and increase and they won’t go away unless
we do something about it. Imagine a world where all you see are big
puffs of black smoke and no trees. All you hear are the rush of cars
and no birds. All you smell is the putrid stench of gasoline and
never the sweet scent of flowers. Nothing would be much more
terrible than having a world like this.
We, however, have the power to help our
environment, and there is still a chance to reverse how destructive
we’ve become with nature. All it takes is a bit of action in our
part. Ironically, it’s the environment that has been responsible
in giving us continuance of life, and yet we ourselves are the ones
who’re destroying it bit by bit rather than being thankful for it.
For information how you can join Haribon
Foundation’s initiatives to conserve our endemic species, email:
communication@haribon.org.ph, or visit www.haribon.org.ph.
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