AboitizPower subsidiary Hedcor marked a milestone that echoes the organization’s love for and commitment to the environment after having planted over three million trees as of the start of 2020.
Like all forests, Hedcor’s efforts began from the smallest of seeds, which is the partnership with various government agencies such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
As one of AboitizPower’s companies under Cleanergy, its brand for clean and renewable energy, Hedcor recognized that it needed to be more proactive in its campaign on reforestation. Moreover, Hedcor’s operations heavily relied on the availability of water, which is highly influenced by the presence of trees.
With this mindset, Hedcor started holding its own regular tree planting activities at a much larger scale. Today, with the growth of the organization and its manpower, Hedcor has tripled its efforts in rehabilitating forests and watershed areas. Hedcor’s efforts alone already fulfilled 33 percent of the Aboitiz Group’s goal of planting nine million trees by 2020.
Hedcor’s tree planting activities are efficiently planned to sustain and maximize their impact. According to Environmental Management Officer Junessa Guimalan, Hedcor partners with the DENR to help identify reforestation sites, as well as catchment areas wherein water can seep in through forest floor and flow directly into the water reservoir.
The organization also collaborates with the communities near its reforestation sites, delegating to them the task of planting and taking care of the seedlings.
Guimalan said this collaboration was key to the impressive 87-percent survival rate for the seedlings the communities have planted.
To make it easier for the communities that keep the reforested areas safe, Hedcor has made sure to plant fruit-bearing trees alongside non-fruit-bearing trees.
Aside from reforestation efforts, Hedcor also rallies for the ban on single-use plastics within the organization’s premises and stands behind wildlife and watershed preservation.
Hedcor is the run-of-river hydropower arm of AboitizPower that operates 22 power facilities in Luzon and Mindanao with a total generating capacity of 277.36 MW. Hedcor’s greening efforts have covered multiple areas across its host communities of Ilocos Sur, Mt. Province, Benguet, Davao, and Bukidnon.
