With the rainy season just around the corner, Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. (AEV) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) recently forged a nationwide reforestation partnership that would help reduce the risk of flooding in disaster-prone areas by planting six million trees under the National Greening Program (NGP).

The private-government partnership was sealed through a memorandum of agreement signed by Erramon I. Aboitiz, AEV President and Chief Executive Officer, and Ramon J.P. Paje, DENR Secretary.

Under the agreement, AEV will register Phase 2 of its ongoing A-Park sustainability program by planting and growing six million trees by 2020. This makes the Aboitiz Group the biggest partner of NGP to date.

AEV will mobilize team members, host communities, and people’s organizations for the actual planting in close coordination with the DENR, which in turn will provide necessary technical assistance in site identification, species matching, seedling protection, geo-tagging, and inventory.

Floods are becoming a perennial problem in the Philippines, and according to the DENR, one of the expected project outcomes of the NGP includes the benefit of environmental stability: increase in the land’s water holding capacity, reduced downstream flooding and soil erosion, and improved environmental services.

“We are pleased to support the DENR in its efforts to build a more sustainable country through the National Greening Program. Today, we are stepping up to take on a bigger challenge of the A-Park with a new goal to plant six million more trees over the next six years, in tandem with the national effort to re-green the Philippines. After all, this is how we showcase the group’s shared passion following our BetterWorld sustainability mindset. This partnership will ensure a sustainable future for generations to come,” Aboitiz said.

Paje, meanwhile, lauded the Aboitiz Group’s A-Park program for both its economic and environmental objectives. The A-Park will not only alleviate poverty and achieve food security; it will also help address the problem of climate change.

Paje said the A-Park trees to be planted under the NGP may support the country’s bid for carbon-neutral status during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris this year.

“The six million trees of A-Park will create a growing forest, which in turn will have a higher sequestration capacity compared to existing forests. This is good for the country, this is good for the planet and this is good for the next generation,” Paje stressed.

Through the A-Park sustainability program, Aboitiz business units nationwide have been planting trees in their respective areas of operations, achieving 3.4 million trees by end of 2014, a year ahead of its 2015 target. Collectively, the A-Park initiative will bring a total of nine million trees planted by 2020.