Employees of construction solution firm Holcim Philippines participated in a series of activities for the environment in September as part of the company’s continuing efforts to harness its people’s volunteerism spirit to support worthwhile causes.
The company’s Davao employees participated in the National Clean-up Day organized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources on September 17, while personnel from its head office headed to Mt. Arayat in Candaba, Pampanga during weekends of September to plant seedlings with the Society for the Conservation of Philippine Wetlands (SCPW).
In Davao, Holcim employees and third-party contractors collected 376 kilograms of garbage from the Ilang River and segregated these for proper disposal in support of the National Clean-up Day.
Holcim Philippines has been helping in the restoration of the Ilang River since 2009 after it signed on to support the Environment Department’s Adopt-a-River program. Last year, it also supported the government initiative for better housing for more than 200 families living near the river by providing land to relocate them to higher and safer ground.
Meanwhile, the company’s head office personnel planted 1,500 seedlings of fruit-bearing trees at Mr. Arayat over three weekends of September to support efforts to preserve the Candaba-Arayat watershed, which has been identified as an ecologically important location as it is habitat to endemic and endangered flora and fauna. Aside from this, the activity will help support local farmers with a sustainable livelihood.
The SCPW has identified the reforestation of Mt. Arayat as critical to protecting the watershed as soil erosion from the uplands makes swamps below vulnerable to sedimentation. This in turn leads to the deterioration of the habitat of waterfowls and migratory birds of the swamplands.
Through its Sustainable Employee Engagement Drive, Holcim Philippines has been actively involving its people in supporting its social and environmental advocacies. The program was a continuation of its company-wide volunteerism effort in 2012 involving 1,6000 employees during the celebration of the legacy Holcim Group’s centennial.