The Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu recently launched its Blue Tree project during an ecological mass and through an unveiling of a marker in the school campus.

The project, initiated in partnership with the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI), is the school’s “green” investment for the environment’s future. It is designed as a “sustainable urban tree planting and plant care initiative geared towards maintaining urban landscapes’ overall health and appearance”.

The school linked with RAFI’s Generation REdemption and Expansion of Natural resources INitiatives in the Philippines (GREENIN Philippines) Program. A native tree nursery is established in the school campus, which becomes a satellite nursery of the RAFI Native Trees Nursery.

RAFI will provide lectures and demonstrations to the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu community on the proper planting and caring of seeds while local government units will identify suitable locations for tree planting and growing. The student community of Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu will fund the project through creative initiatives.

“The Blue Tree Project will showcase the school’s concern for the environment and hopefully catches the interest of the Jesuit community throughout the country as well as the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines member-schools,” Fr. Sigmund de Guzman, S.J., Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Campus Ministry director, said.

His office will link the school with various partners.

Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu President Fr. Manuel Uy, S.J.; Dr. Robert Gallardo of the Department of Education-Mandaue City Division; and GREENIN Philippines Program Coordinator Neil Papas turned over Bitanghol seedlings to the representatives of the different departments of the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu community, among them Student Council President Niño Cardenas who represented the student body. The ceremony symbolized the responsibility of individuals to nurture seedlings until they grow and become forests.

For more information on the Blue Tree project, please contact Fr. Sigmund de Guzman at 345-4378. For more details on the GREENIN Philippines Program, please contact Neil Papas at 418-7234 or visit www.rafi.org.ph.