Urban Trekking: The Haribon Native Tree Trek at Liwasang Kalikasan, CCP Complex
“You cannot protect what you don’t know”- It is with the quote in mind that I joined the Haribon Foundation’s native tree trek at the Liwasang Kalikasan, Cultural Center of the Philippines on January 24, 2016. Haribon Foundation is a local NGO focused on wildlife protection and environmental conservation. Their native tree trek is part of the foundation’s native tree city project which aims to re-connect us urban dwellers to nature and to tag native trees to increase people’s appreciation of the country’s unique biodiversity.
There were at least twenty (20) of us who joined the exciting event. We started at about 9:30 am in the morning and roamed around the park until almost 12nn. The heat in Manila can be unbearable but under the shade of the many trees in the park, the temperature is cooler and we really enjoyed our walk where we tried to identify the native trees indicated on the map given by Haribon.
Participants of Haribon's Native Tree Trek enjoying the educational tour at Liwasang Kalikasan
The activity proved our inability to name and distinguish trees around us. It is very embarrassing- as an environmentalist and a Filipino- to not know the trees that can be found in our county. However, with the help of the Haribon staff, we were able to get to know the following trees:
Is-is (Ficus ulmifoilia)
Banaba (Lagerstroemia speciose)
Duhat (Syzygium cumini)
Molave (Vitex parviflora)
Ilang-ilang (Cananga odorata)
Hauili (Ficus septica)
Kamagong (Diospyros blancoi)
Dao (Cracontomelon dao)
Bagras (Eucalyptus deglupta)
Narra (Pterocarpus indicus)
Talisay (Terminalia catappa)
I love that while admiring the trees, the guide also gives facts about the tree species we are encountering. In general, our native trees do not collect too much water unlike introduced species like mahogany and gmelina; most are resistant to forest fires, are sun-loving, and can thrive even in very degraded soils. These characteristics make them perfect choice for reforestation projects, the downside only is that native trees are not as fast-growing as introduced tree species that are more commonly used in reforestation activities.
Haribon staff teaching participants how to ID trees
Though I am intrigued and awed my all the trees I encountered, the Is-is and the Bagras were the ones that amused me. Bagras or the “rainbow tree” has a trunk that peels into many shades of green and brown; also its leaf gives a distinguished spicy scent when crushed. The Is-is on the other hand has leaves with sandpaper like texture.
I really thank Haribon for conducting activities such as this. Knowing the native tree species of the Philippines is a delight as it makes us more connected to our city, most importantly, to our country. Before knowing the native trees, it feels like I am someplace where I don’t know the names of people around me. Now that I can identify more trees, walking in the city feels more familiar.
I hope to get to know more about our native tree species and hopefully I can use this knowledge to make others appreciate biodiversity more. I can’t wait to know more- trees, birds, insects. The world is so awesome and there are still so much to see.
