The National Power Corp. (NPC) and the Climate Change Commission (CCC) have forged an alliance to rehabilitate 25 hectares of denuded upland forests within the Caliraya-Lumot watershed forest reserve in Laguna.
Fernando Martin Roxas, NPC president and chief executive officer, said the partnership will not only include the establishment of new plantations but also the nourishing of reforested areas for eight years.
“This partnership will help us hasten the rehabilitation of the Caliraya-Lumot watershed, a critical water resource for Caliraya and Kalayaan hydroelectric power plants. Restoring these open areas will also enhance water conservation, erosion control and biodiversity conservation in the area,” Roxas added.
Under the agreement, a comprehensive and integrated approach will be employed in implementing the reforestation activities including site assessment and planning, reforestation and tree planting, capacity-building of people’s organizations and raising awareness in the communities.
The partnership is also part of its energy sector carbon sequestration initiative program which was launched with the Department of Energy in October 2021 encouraging the private sector to mitigate the effects of climate change through reforestation.
The power companies in the program include the Angat Hydro Corp., San Roque Power Corp., Aboitiz Power Renewables, Inc., and SN Aboitiz Power-Benguet Inc.
NPC is mandated to provide power generation and associated power delivery systems via Small Power Utilities Group power plants to islands and communities not connected to the main transmission grid.
These missionary electrification projects are funded by revenues from power sales and from the universal charge collected from power consumers.
NPC is also tasked to oversee 11 watersheds with a land area of 485,199 hectares to support hydro and geothermal power plants as well as locate indigenous sources of power.
