Lea Basit (right) collects plants for her mini nursery.(CONTRIBUTED)
From nurturing 50 trees, in her mini nursery in her front yard, Lea Basit of Borbon town in northern Cebu now has more than a thousand plants and trees of various species.
The 35-year-old mother got her saplings and seedlings from the town’s forest.
“Ang uban nako nga mga kahoy sama sa Lagundi og Taheebo kay ihatag sa mga schools aron ipakita sa mga bata ang importansiya sa kahoy (Some of my plants like Lagundi and Taheebo are given to schools to show to the students the importance of trees),” Basit said.
It was her love for plants that made her start her own nursery in her hometown in barangay Bacagay, Borbon last year.
“Nagdaku gyud ko sa pag-uma uban sa akong pamilya didto sa Cagayan de Oro City. Kada adlaw anaa ko sa among uma kuyog sa akong papa aron mananom og mais o dili ba kaha mga lagutmon (I grew up in a farming family in Cagayan de Oro City. Everyday I went to the farm with my father to plant corn or root crops),” she said, smiling.
“We planted fruit-bearing trees, such as cashew, cacao, papaya, jackfruit and sugar apple, among others,” she said.
“Kon dili naku familiar ang tanom ako na puniton unya ipa-identify sa expert (If I’m not familiar with a plant, I’ll let an expert identify it),” she said.
Although she does not possess a degree in Botany or Biology, her experience in farming has given her first-hand knowledge about different trees and plants.
When a certain seedling is new to her, she adds it to her mini-nursery.
Out of 12 siblings, Basit is the only one who followed in the footsteps of her father.
In 2013, the Kahiusaan Alang sa Kalamboan sa Bagacay (Kaakbay), an organization of which she is a member, signed a four-year agreement with the Department of Environment and National Resources under its National Greening Program to rehabilitate the denuded forests in the province.
This year, trees like Narra and Ipil-ipil will be planted in an area of more than 50-hectares.
“Ang one hectare dapat tanoman namo og 1,000 ka mga kahoy (One hectare of land should be planted with 1,000 trees),” she said.
In 2014, Basit helped the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. Integrated Development Unit under its GREENIN Philippines program propagate native tree species.
Basit is also active in the barangay’s women’s organization where she is the president. Every meeting, she encourages members to plant trees in their own backyards.
Basit said she did not finish college because of the sudden death of her mother. “Sa akong duha ka anak na lang na nga makahuman og eskwela. Sila na lang ang motuman sa akong mga damgo (I’ll leave it to my two children to finish their studies and fulfill my dreams),” she added.
She is grooming her youngest son, Ryan, to be a self-made environmentalist, too.
“Kon naa koy problema, makig-istorya ra ko sa akong mga tanom. Mahimo sila nga source of comfort ug energy nako. Inig bangon nako, mobisita dayon ko sa akong mga tanom (If I have a problem I talk to the trees. They are my source of comfort and energy. When I wake up, I immediately visit my plants),” she said.
For her, growing plants and trees does not only require a green thumb but also a heart willing to nurture them.