Seventeen species of the Lauan tree have been collected by Rene Vendiola, the 2012 Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Incorporated Triennial awardee, in his search for the remaining native hardwood that can be found in the Negros Island.

Vendiola’s reforestation project is the one-hectare Liptong Woodlands located in Liptong, of Bacong town, in Negros Oriental, where he planted various species of the native hardwood trees. It is now considered home to endangered bird species, bats, and to flora and fauna.

Vendiola said he is working on collecting all hardwood tree species that can be found in Negros, and is planning to propagate these by putting up a seedling nursery.

Native hardwood trees are becoming extinct because of the irresponsible and the illegal cutting of trees, he said. Vendiola said he will use his P440,000 cash prize from RAFI to put up a sophisticated seedling nursery of native hardwood trees. These include the lauan, apitong, narra, kamagong and yakal.

It is never too late to plant trees, Vendiola, the RAFI awardee for exemplary individual, said.

He added that only a few species of native hardwood trees can be found in the forests in Negros Oriental, and that he is grateful that a good number of them are in the forest of the Twin Lakes of Balinsasayao in Sibulan.*

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