BEBUT’S TRAIL XVI: Bushmen Also Love Trees

THE LAST TIME I PLANTED TREES was seven years ago. I planted it along the Babag East Ridge Pass and it involved representatives of local hiker groups. Despite my effort and sacrifice to personally water it every weekend, one by one, the young trees withered and died. I cannot blame the local climate because all were nurtured and grown in a small nursery adjacent to the trail and, therefore, fully acclimatized. Domestic animals and fowls were the main culprit.

The last species to die was a boat-fruited mangrove (Local name: dungon). I lost it in 2015 to goats despite protecting it with bamboo barbs. After that, I did not spearhead a tree-planting activity again if local caretakers do not want it or are not interested to protect it. Local attitudes, mindsets and acceptance play a big part and, if they are not willing to get involved, why should I exert myself to nothing? Besides that, choosing which species to plant also plays a big part for me and that needs more time.

I am very critical about tree-planting activities. I do not take short cuts like most people do like planting mahogany, white leadtree (ipil-ipil), gmelina, Brazilian flame trees and other exotic species. I prefer indigenous species and fruit-bearing trees, even though these, unknown to you, were introduced many years ago by our Spanish and American colonizers. The good thing about these fruit trees are it had adapted well and are “good neighbors” with their native counterparts and now plays a perfect role in our local ecology. 

But today, March 4, 2017, gave me an opportunity to, once again, plant a tree. Jhurds Neo, the head shed of Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild got the green light from Ceno Laborte of Baksan, Sapangdaku, Cebu City to have his land planted with trees. Any kind. The Guild would be dirtying their hands. I suggested that he concentrate on collecting fruit tree seedlings and hardwood species, with a few mahoganies that Ceno could harvest once it matured for construction of a future house.

The tree-planting activity would also be a school project for the students of the University of San Carlos, of which Jhurds is teaching and he involved his CWTS class. From the Guild, came Ernie Salomon, Glenn Pestaño, Ann Jillian Yap, Justin Abella, Jonathaniel Apurado, Nyor Pino, Glyn Formentera, Jenmar de Leon and guest blogger Jean Louise Mainit. Coming with his father, is Jacob Neo. He likes the freedom of the outdoors so he could play “dirt time” with his local friends. From the parking lot of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, we hired transportations to bring us all to Baksan.

From the road, it would be a twenty-minute walk to the property of Ceno. Each one carried gently a young tree on one of their palms. The species are soursop, guava, acacia, narra, lanzones, rambutan, cacao and mahogany. The hike took almost an hour for the USC students for they were not used to walking on dirt trails. For some, it is their first time. It does not surprise me. These are millennials. They are normally “wired” to the electric socket and the WiFi and are mall creatures.

The idea of walking on soil with abundant forest cover amazes them so much that they forgot Android phones for a while. Some recovered at the shock and paused for self-portraits but finding phone signals wanting they just used its other function of capturing images in still photos and in video. Some, unable to shake off their cosmopolitan nature, donned headphones wired to their phones and sang in sync with the subdued melodies. It was a wonder to watch these kids but Jacob ignored them. Jacob is miles away from them.

We arrive in a place called Sibalas. I have been here many times. This place was “opened” to us after we had successfully conducted outreach programs for the children of Baksan. In fact, the place is referred by one local as “kinapusuran sa Baksan”, which can be translated in English as the center of Baksan. It has a deep well where, not too long ago, was an open spout of water. Its flow never faltered the whole year round, even in the warmest drought season. People, as far as Gethsemane Hills, come here to collect its precious liquid during the worst times.

Watering and nurturing the young trees would not be a problem here. It is shady with breaks in the forest cover allowing adequate sunlight. The mature trees would mother the young trees from direct sunlight while retaining moisture on the ground after a rain. Sibalas has the capacity to retain water and its natural spring is a testament of its healthy underground water dynamics. The residents have valued this spot and they have refrained from rearing hogs along a radius of about 1,000 meters. That is why we chose this place and adopted the community for our outreach.

Jhurds begins to brief the students and assigned them the places to plant. They would also be assigned to plant fruit trees only and grouped into five individuals each, assisted by one adult from Camp Red, for they will be handling edged tools. The rest of the Camp Red people would gather bamboo and fashion these into long stakes to protect the young trees from stray farm animals and for easy recognition. The empty spaces along the path would be designated for fruit trees. The young mahogany would be planted by Camp Red people on a slope while I would plant the narra and acacia species on difficult spots.

Holes were dug four meters from each other and it lined along the trail. More holes were dug on the next layer and then the next. The last layer was reserved for mahogany trees, which holes were placed on sloped areas and would act as debris catchers when it matures. Debris would impede water from running directly to water channels and brooks. The acacia and narra species were placed on areas where it could water itself by its location within a few feet from depressions along water channels.

Every student carried with him or her, a packed meal. When noonbreak came, most of the young trees were planted and everybody paused for lunch. Likewise, with the Camp Red bushmen. Ernie, our camp fixer, was exempt from the tree planting activity. He has at his task of providing delicious nourishment for us. As always, three dishes, plus a dessert of raw cucumber and tomatoes in vinegar. Jacob has his special meal courtesy of Jolibee. There is an unfinished hut that served as our resting place. There is a table and benches on three sides.

This structure is one of two that we are constructing. When finished, it will be used as a recreation area and as an outdoor education center. People will be taught here about bushcraft, wilderness survival, homesteading, campsite management, backcountry ethics and safety, trailcraft, first aid, prepping, land navigation, child woodlore, specialist topics and outdoors leadership. This would be a base camp for trails going into the Buhisan Watershed Area, Mount Bokatol, Tagaytay Ridge, Arcos Ridge and the wilderness of Pagatpat, Buwabog and Cato-ogan.

The rest of the day was reserved for watering the twenty-six mixed-fruit varieties and ten for mahogany and placing the bamboo stakes on each individual plant. But my task was not yet finished. I have to dig holes and plant the last three narra and acacia trees. I have planted five already but mine was the most difficult location and the farthest. The good thing is that you do not have to water for the ground is moist and it is cooler. Just the same, I placed stakes around each for easy identification.

We finished early and Jhurds accompany Jacob and his students to facilitate their quick departure back to Guadalupe. Assisting him were Jonathan, Glyn and Jenmar. Ernie, Nyor and Justin washed the pots near the water source while Glenn and I entertained Ann and Jean at the hut. We boiled water and had coffee to pair with a few pieces of bread. The wash brigade came and joined us. Slowly, they packed their things while waiting for Jhurds and company.

I do not have to pack. I just carried a simple leather frontiersman-style bag that contained a Seseblade Sinalung, a Seseblade Matabia, a Victorinox Ranger SAK, an extra t-shirt and a one-liter juice retort pouch which I repurposed into a collapsible water bottle. The leather bag was a gift from Alan Poole of the UK, the Sinalung and the Matabia are from Dr. Arvin Sese and the SAK from Markus Immer of Switzerland.

We finally left at 15:30, retracing the path we took in the morning. Waiting is a Fuso Elf passenger van that Jhurds have commandeered from his father’s garage. It was roomy at the back. Jacob sat at the front beside his dad. We planted forty-six young trees today and we believed that most of these would survive, except for a few that were handled improperly. That was just the start. We would plant soon another batch of young trees. We would source indigenous ones and more fruit varieties. We would reforest Sibalas and beyond.

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