The Rotary Club of Antique (Rotary International District 3850) is set to plant 3,850 fruit-bearing trees within the year as part of its commitment to environmental sustainability and food security in local communities.
In an interview on Friday, Carolyn May Deslate, the past president and current treasurer of the Rotary Club of Antique, announced that the “Fruit Trees for Life” project will be launched at Darling Resort in Barangay Tuno, Municipality of Tibiao, on August 30.
“We will initially plant 300 fruit-bearing trees on a resort of a fellow Rotarian,” Deslate stated. She mentioned that they have requested seedlings from the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office, headed by Cynthia Blancia, which will include varieties such as jackfruit, lanzones, star apple, cacao, and kamagong to be planted in Tibiao.
In addition to the seedlings provided by the provincial office, other club officers and members are contributing their own homegrown seedlings for future tree planting activities. The club also plans to establish a nursery to grow seedlings for the project.
“This is actually our first time to plant fruit-bearing trees because before we were planting endemic tree seedlings,” Deslate explained. She noted that the shift to fruit-bearing trees is aimed at providing communities with a sustainable source of food.
“We are also planting the seedlings in our fellow Rotarians’ areas so that they could help cultivate, grow, and maintain what we have planted,” she added, highlighting the collaborative effort to ensure the success of the initiative.