Because we not only grow timber commercially, but also reforest in order to let forests grow again, I would like to mention our Muno Hill project again. The mountain is now known to many residents, as more and more wealthy Filipinos have their weekend homes built in the cool mountain air of Marilog and Buda and drive past this „landmark“ on their way there. Hopefully, our 11,000 planted Narra trees will prevent the flanks from subsiding, which would inevitably bury the fields of local farmers. You can find the video on our YouTube channel.

Internally, we can report that our office in Davao will be relocated to Samal Island, the island off Davao, before the end of the year. There are good reasons for this. In the meantime, a city office is no longer necessary because there is a contact point in Monkayo for our farmers in Monkayo and Montivista. In Patag, Marilog, our office is expected to be inaugurated in June 2022. Our visitors usually do not want to see us, but their trees. The two offices will then be located in the middle of our planting areas.

Teak tree on our trial plot in Monkayo. The giant spacing of 12 x 12 metres is not justifiable from a silvicultural point of view, but it shows that further spacing produces thicker trunks.

The 10-peso coin has a diameter of 27 millimetres. We have placed it graphically by circles ten times on the trunk. So the teak tree trunk diameter is 27 centimetres.

In the fourth quarter, the frequent rain in the evening hours makes motorcycling difficult, but is nectar for the trees, as water is their fuel. Together with the sun shining almost daily and the lack of seasons, the tropics are the right mix to observe good growth all year round. But even under the best conditions, not all trees grow the same, nature is nature, which is also very reassuring.

It is also very amazing how well your teak trees develop. The one pictured should not be taken as an example, however, because we planted these first teak trees at a distance of 12 x 12 metres for our field trial in December 2015. Forestry cannot be carried out in this way, because the space required would be enormous. We plant your mahogany and teak trees at a distance of 4 x 4 metres, an optimal compromise, especially since we also allow the farmers to plant other products between their trees after three years, because by then the deep roots have already developed. It is well known that trees with larger spacing form thicker trunks. Why trees are still planted very densely and then „thinned out“, i.e. cut down, is not clear, because the remaining trees have had to share nutrients and water with the cut trees all these years, but they have not produced any value.

Back to the timber: Since our office is going to be a wooden house, we have acquired 21 mahogany trees with diameters of up to 70 centimetres, which will soon be felled. Very sad, but wood is a solid building material and always grows back, if the timber companies could finally decide to plant trees in advance. With good planning, the nonsensical clear-cutting would not happen. We work with your trees in a sustainable way because our projects are monitored by the state environment agency, DENR. In order to get the cutting permit for our purchased trees, numerous documents had to be submitted, but all of them are available for our projects.

I‘m sure you haven‘t noticed yet, so here‘s the hint. Christmas is getting closer. Because giving socks and ties as gifts has gone a little out of fashion, we would be delighted if you would treat your loved one and neighbour to products from our range this year. On the next page we have our bestsellers on the next page. Simply order by e-mail or via our shop.

These Falcata trees from the eucalyptus family grow very quickly and are used for paper and cardboard production. They are only ready for harvest after eight years, but their value is low.

Chief forester Mark (left) and Pablo check the growth success of the mangroves in Mati every month. The next planting will take place in mid-December.

Special gifts for every occasion

1. You buy a MicroInvestment for 15 Euro and you will receive 40 Euro for your mahogany seedling after 12 years. Each tree photo shows the coordinates, so that the tree can be assigned without any doubt at any time.

2. For 7.50 Euro we will plant an endemic tree for you, which is shown as a photo inside the high-quality gift card. Through the coordinates in the photo, you can „fly“ to your tree after entering it in Google Earth.

3. For 50 Euro we plant 150 mangroves for you in our Malizia Mangrove Park project in Mati, where over 400,000 mangroves have already been planted by the Women‘s Association, but where the first step is 1 million.

4. While planting mangroves, we also collect plastic waste, which we do not dispose of on land, but have it transformed into school furniture. A chair is made from 30 kilograms of plastic waste and costs 38 Euro.

Questions about the topic? Ask them to us!