Agata employees and contractor personnel plant Benguet Pine in mined-out upland areas
Tubay, Agusan del Norte / March 2021 – Agata celebrated this year’s Valentine’s Day with a twist – a tree-planting activity to promote love for mother nature and taking care of one’s health. Dubbed “Plant for Love,” the initiative was participated by 60 Agata employees and contractor personnel who planted 500 Benguet Pine seedlings for the final rehabilitation of its Mine Area 6 Central area.
The activity was initiated by the company’s Environment and Safety & Health Departments and kicked-off early in the morning of Valentine’s Day with a Zumba session.
Company physician Dr. Sheldon Cosadio emphasized how important it is to take care of one’s self during the short program after the activity: “In order to give love, it must start from within. So you have to love yourself first,” Cosadio shared.
He added that physical and mental health should be given importance in the workplace and discussed ways on how to take care of one’s health during the pandemic.
Harmony with nature
Agata continues to actively pursue excellence and continuous improvement in the areas of safety & health and environmental management. For 2020, Agata achieved over 20 million man-hours with no Lost Time due to Accidents (LTAs) while fulfilling its extensive environmental commitments to its communities.
Forester Jesnar Villareal said that the trees planted in the area are intended to be part of a pine forest that will be one of the highlights of Agata’s future ecotourism park. The company already previously planted Agoho, Flemengia, Guava, Giant Bamboo, Guyabano, Indigo, Ipil-ipil, Lanzones, Mangium, Marang, Narra, Pagoha, Rambutan and Rensonii.
Agata is the first Philippine mining company to adapt thematic landscaping and the ecotourism concept into its rehabilitation program.
It is likewise known for its effective and innovative environmental management programs, part of which is the proper utilization of its Environmental Protection and Enhancement Program (EPEP) budget, totaling close to Php79 million in 2020.
Agata EPEP projects include the progressive rehabilitation of mined-out areas, landscaping and maintenance, reforestation and the National Greening Program, plantation maintenance, buffer zone management, erosion control / slope stabilization and seedling production, and the improvement and expansion of its central and satellite nurseries, among others.
The program also includes the management of its coastal and other resources: the maintenance of its protected sanctuary, waste management, hazardous waste storage and maintenance, air quality monitoring, maintenance of pollution control devices and causeway site maintenance.
Harmony with the community
The EPEP is also implemented in partnership with Agata’s Indigenous Cultural Communities, particularly the establishment of its nursery as well as the establishment and maintenance of plantations. Currently, Agata has already established the Mapaso Tribal Group-AgroForestry Farm and the Capilitan Clan Abaca and Rubber Plantation located in Barangay La Paz and E. Morgado, respectively, both in Santiago Municipality of this province.
Agata’s transformative mining rehabilitation, which aims to create an Agroforestry and Ecotourism Hub for the future, is programmed under the Land Resource Management component of its EPEP. This environmental attraction will have seven vast areas that will plant specific crops and trees: various fruits and vegetables, bananas, coconuts, papayas and pineapples, different tree species, a protected forest and a pine forest.
Guided by its philosophy of “Starting it right, keeping the end in mind,” Agata’s transformative programs are geared towards improving not only the natural environment but also the socio-economic condition of its beneficiary communities. It is further enabled by sustainable projects that go beyond the life of mine.
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