Towards a Greener Iloilo: SGF and PGENRO Unite for Reforestation Projects Across the Province of Iloilo
Published July 19, 2026
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On July 16, the Iloilo Provincial Government Environment and Natural Resources Office (PGENRO) and the Sulu Garden Foundation (SGF) hosted a convergence meeting at Miag-ao, Iloilo to advance collaboration between the “Tanum Iloilo for MoRProGRes” campaign and SGF’s “Re‑Greening of Panay” initiative. The gathering brought together local government environment officers, national agency representatives, academic partners and SGF researchers to align restoration strategies and identify concrete pilot sites aimed at turning Iloilo Province into a forest province.
Among those who attended were Atty. Cesar Emmanuelle Buyco Jr. and Mitzi Peñaflorida of PGENRO Iloilo, Mary Ellaine Puno of MENRO Igbaras, Isidro Mosura of MENRO Miagao, Felipe Tunay and Mark Leonard Silaras of UP Visayas UP Visayas Office of the Vice Chancellor for Planning and Development – Site Development and Reforestation Project (OVCPD-SDRP), and Gloria Flores and Leonida Liza Curias of DENR Region VI Conservation and Development Division.
The meeting opened with a tour of SGF’s facilities where participants observed demonstration of seedball production and inspected the testing plots that have been used for recent field trials. SGF staff showcased seedball formulation techniques, production workflows and trial results that illustrate germination rates and early survival under local conditions. The facility tour provided a practical backdrop for technical exchanges and helped participants visualize how seedball dispersal can complement nursery‑grown seedlings in steep or inaccessible terrain.
Discussions during the meeting focused on practical matters such as sources of seeds and planting materials, mapping of potential mother trees across Panay Island, and criteria for selecting pilot implementation sites. Miag-ao, San Joaquin, Igbaras, and Tubungan were identified as priority locations for coordinated field tests that will combine seedball dispersal with targeted seedling planting.
An extended working lunch provided time for institutional planning and negotiation. Attendees discussed the finalization of a memorandum of agreement to formalize roles, resource commitments, and monitoring responsibilities among SGF, PGENRO, municipal MENROs, DENR Region VI, and academic partners. The conversation also explored potential carbon finance pathways to sustain long‑term maintenance and community incentives, including the baseline data and verification systems that would be required to make carbon projects viable.
The meeting identified opportunities for socioeconomic co‑benefits tied to restoration. PGENRO proposed integrated livelihood projects such as native species nurseries, agroforestry enterprises, and value chain development. A separate collaborative workstream in line with SGF’s Project Sibukaw was proposed to pilot sappanwood agroforestry as a model that links restoration with income generation for local communities.
The convergence meeting concluded with a set of agreed next steps: draft and circulate the MOA for signatures, conduct a seed source inventory and map mother trees across Panay, launch coordinated pilot deployments in the four priority municipalities with agreed monitoring metrics, and pursue funding pathways including carbon finance and donor partnerships. With SGF’s seedball innovations and PGENRO’s Tanum Iloilo strategy working in tandem, partners aim to demonstrate a replicable model for restoring forest cover while delivering ecological and socioeconomic benefits across Iloilo and the wider Panay Island.
About SGF
Sulu Garden Foundation is named after the Sulu Sea – the largest inland sea in the Philippines. Our mission concentrates on this sea and the provinces that surround it. These provinces have diverse cultures and religions, yet, they all share history and traditions. The foundation has various programs and activities focused on history and heritage, the arts, nature conservation, research and development, and community.
