All Students In Philippines Must Plant 10 Trees To Graduate Under New Law

‘Plant 10 Trees’ Law Passed In Philippines To Protect Environment & Tackle Climate Change

Graduation just got a lot more interesting for students in the Philippines, now that they must plant 10 trees before they qualify for completing their studies.

Failure to plant at least 10 trees means that they might not get to graduate at all. This new rule will apply to all elementary, high school and college students.

In-tree-guing.

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According to Fox News on Thursday (30 May), lawmakers in the Philippines’ House of Representatives passed the bill, called Graduation Legacy for the Environment Act.

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With this initiative, the bill aims to protect the environment and tackle climate change.

Where can students plant 10 trees?

Students should plant their 10 trees in these locations:

• Forests
• Mangrove & protected areas
• Ancestral domains
• Civil and military reservations
• Urban areas
• Inactive & abandoned mine sites
• Other suitable lands

No less than 525 billion trees in a generation

With almost 18 million students graduating from college, and elementary and high schools each year, that means at least 175 million new trees will be planted annually.

The bill stated,

In the course of one generation, no less than 525 billion trees can be planted under this initiative.

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That’s a lot of trees.

Change starts with the young

Deforestation is a major problem in the Philippines. No thanks to illegal logging, many forests there are endangered.

Other pressing issues gripping the country, such as food insecurity – aka inconsistent and unreliable access to nutritious food – all point to deforestation as the root of the problem.

While it is chilling to note that a country with such vast lands like the Philippines is forced to confront these problems, we as Singaporeans have much to be grateful for.

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We are a small country, but we are well known for our lush urban greenery.

Tree Planting Day is one of our longstanding traditions, which we can continue to honour by moulding our young to do their part for protecting Singapore’s environment.

The future, after all, is in their palms.

Featured image from Unsplash and Unsplash.