- A 12-year-old boy from La Union was chosen by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) as “Young Earth Ambassador”
- James Daryll Rey is the son of kaingero parents from Nagyubuyuban, San Fernando City, La Union
- Rey will be sent to different organizations within the country and abroad to relate his experience of saving the forest
SAN FERNANDO CITY, LA UNION – A 12-year-old boy from a remote barangay in San Fernando City, La Union was chosen by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to be its ambassador in preserving the forest and saving the environment.
FAO is an agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. According to FAO’s website, the agency’s three main goals are: the eradication of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition; the elimination of poverty and the driving forward of economic and social progress for all; and the sustainable management and utilization of natural resources, including land, water, air, climate and genetic resources for the benefit of present and future generations.
As stated in an article written by Jun Elias and published by Yahoo, James Daryll Rey, a grade six pupil of Nagyubuyuban Elementary School, was given by FAO the title of “Young Earth Ambassador” through Yakap Kalikasan; a FAO-sponsored non-government organization.
Rey is the son of a “slash-and-burn farmer” parents or what is locally known as kaingeros.
As the “Young Earth Ambassador”, Rey will be going to different organizations in the country and abroad to relate how he effectively led the community to take action for the preservation of the forest in their locality.
Rey spoke on Wednesday before the delegates of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Week Conference in Clark, Pampanga and shared his story of how he persuaded his parents to stop the practice of kaingin and their charcoal business.
According to an article on Philstar, the province of La Union where Rey is from has 39,002 hectares of forest land. From 2011 to 2015, 5,634 hectares were reforested with a total of 4,297,967 trees planted, according to the records of the National Greening Program of DENR Region 1.
Rey led the Kabataang Green Warriors, a group of youths whose parents used to be kaingeros, reforested the denuded areas of Barangay Nagyubuyuban. The group is currently managing a mini-forest planted with new trees such as ipil-ipil, narra and acacia.
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