Man has a symbiotic relationship with trees. Trees produce the oxygen man breathes while man exhales carbon dioxide which trees need to survive. Indeed, there would be no life if there were no trees.

    Previous efforts to plant and conserve trees have proven inadequate. Meanwhile, deforestation goes on at an appalling rate. Soon there will be no more virgin forests in the Philippines. When this time comes, the country would have reached the point of irreversible decline. A grim scenario that should not be allowed to happen.

    Luntiang Pilipinas is a nationwide tree-growing program that seeks to create 1,500 Forest Parks in urban areas - in national and local government centers, school grounds, churchyards and along roadsides. Hopefully, the momentum created will also spur massive tree-planting in the countryside, especially in denuded mountains.

    The thrust of the project is to heighten public awareness of the fact that trees are life-giving and that growing them is doable.

    Luntiang Pilipinas does not seek to replace or duplicate any existing tree-planting campaign. It specifically aims to develop Forest Parks in the urban areas. Each forest park will have a minimum of 100 trees, planted at a maximum of four meters apart. Along roadsides, the trees will be planted two meters apart on both sides of the road.

    Each forest park will be marked by an official, duly numbered Luntiang Pilipinas signboard, and should be cared for and nourished for especially during their first three to five years.