The Binhi Program was established by the Energy Development Corporation, the largest corporate-led greening program in the country.

Based on the corporate website by the EDC, the “BINHI has become one of the most widely-recognized privately-initiated environmental programs in the country. With the tagline “Let the future take root,” BINHI aims to restore denuded forests; preserve and propagate threatened native tree species, and protect biodiversity to leave a legacy of a verdant Philippines for the next generation.”

The Binhi Program focuses on Reforestation and Rehabilitation of Degraded Forest Areas (wherein million seedlings of indigenous forest trees and fruit-bearing tree species were planted on degraded and open forests in watersheds and protected areas) and Rescue and Propagation of Native Tree Species (mission to save threatened Philippine native tree species).

The PCDS and EDC’s Binhi Program are in partnership in saving tree species that are endemic in Palawan such as Palawan Mangkono (Xanthostemon speciosus, Manggis (Koompassia excelsa), Narig-laot (Vatica maritama), and Palawan narig (VAtica mangachapoi ssp. obtusifolia) that are close into extinction and targets for the rescue through in-situ conservation under the Binhi Program.

The PCSD and EDC signed the Memorandum of Agreement on May 22, 2021, during the Webinar event that was also attended by representatives of the Philippine Parks and Biodiversity.

During the contract signing, Regina Victoria J. Pascual, the Assistant of the Vice President of EDC and Head of Corporate Support Function said that “EDC has been an advocate of the greener environment. Our commitment to protect and nurture the environment stepped up even further as we recognize that doing less harm is not enough. We need to step up our game and be the catalyst for change towards a regenerative and decarbonized future.”

The EDC was first launched in 2008, planting and nurturing the seedlings of native trees that are already adapted in the forests and unharmed the other habitats. They also support agroforestry and enterprise development initiatives to partner with community associations to give alternate sources of income to the local communities, as well as protection of the forest, and biodiversity.

According to Atty. Teodoro Jose S. Mata, the PCSD Executive Director that “The ensuing from this program such as the conduct of research, the establishment of tree parks, advocacy campaigns, and protection of Palawan’s threatened and endemic tree species and their habitat are geared towards the sustainable future and allover benefits of our people. There are many things to be done and there are restrictions brought about by the pandemic that will limit our actions, but we will pursue and work hard to implement this project.

This is the 190th partner of the EDC since they started the BINHI program in 2008 and the fourth partner to have an in situ project along with the Department of Natural Resources-Ecosystem Research and Development Bureau (DENR-ERDB), the Provincial Government of Zamboanga Sibugay, DENR Region IX and Philippine Parks and Biodiversity.