Saturday, August 27, 2011

Money grows from tree farming



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THE TREE farm was started two decades ago. Photo by Yolanda Sotelo, Inquirer Northern Luzon
UMINGAN, Pangasinan – While many are wishing to own a tree that grows money, a family in this town is growing thousands of trees that will hopefully not only bring them money but also help protect the environment.
Money, indeed, does not grow on trees. But the Sebastian family, who owns Marrse Tropical Timber Plantation, knows it takes years, hard work and caring before their trees could be sold and become money.
Their plantation began as a hobby in the early ’90s when treeplanting became popular in the country.
Mario Sebastian Sr., 63, a businessman engaged in dealingagricultural chemicals, started to plant mahogany seeds in his backyard in Urdaneta City. The seeds were collected by his eldest son, Mario Jr., from Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) where he was studying high school, and from the nearby University of the Philippines’ campus in Diliman, Quezon City.
“We were able to plant thousands of mahogany seedlings that the pathway was the only space available in the 2,000-square-meter yard. My father then decided to look for a property to start the plantation,” Mario Jr. says.
Plantation sites
The elder Sebastian scouted for properties in 1992 and found contiguous lots, covering 20 hectares, in remote Barangay San Vicente. These lots sold for only P2 a square meter. That time, the place was devoid of vegetation, except tall cogon grasses.

MARIO Sebastian Jr. and Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer Leduina Co walk through mahogany logs. Photo by Yolanda Sotelo, Inquirer Northern Luzon
Sebastian bought another 40-hectare property in nearby Barangay Luna. He had to get a P30-million loan from Quedancor Bank to start the plantation.
Twenty years later, the plantation is one of the most sustainable tree farms in the country. Thousands of mahogany trees that the family planted stand tall and sturdy, but it may take five to 10 more years before they mature, and another 30 years before they reach full commercial potential, Mario Jr. says.
Sebastian passed on to his children his love for trees.
Mario Jr. says it must be those years of collecting the mahogany seeds and helping their father plant them in bags that he grew passionately in love withtree farming.
The Sebastian siblings are graduates from AdMU. The eldest, Mario Jr., 36, finished BS Management; Maria Angela, 34, BS Management Engineering, while the youngest, Marco, 24, Environmental Science.
Family endeavor

MARIO Sebastian Sr. says the tree farm started as a hobby. Photo by Yolanda Sotelo, Inquirer Northern Luzon
With their educational background, the three could easily land good-paying jobs in multinational companies, but they opted to focus their efforts on the family-owned plantation.
When the Philippine Daily Inquirer visited the plantation, Mario Jr. and Marco were in shirts, jeans, boots and their hands muddied.
“We have just formed a company and formalized the organizational structure,” Mario Jr., the president and chief executive officer, says. Marco is the chief operations officer while Maria Angela is the marketing officer.
The brothers are hands-on in managing the plantation, getting their hands dirty by working alongside their workers daily.
“Whatever the workers are doing, we also do,” says Mario Jr.
They have no formal training in tree farming.
“We learn through experiments and by consulting foresters and government agencies, and by researching with the help of the Internet. The first 20-ha plantation was really trial-and-error,” Mario Jr. says.
“Everything here passed through our hands – from selecting and sorting the seeds, planting them in bags, replanting and taking care of them,” he adds.

BROTHERS Mario Jr. and Marco Sebastian are involved in the day-to-day operations of the family-owned tree farm. Photo by Yolanda Sotelo, Inquirer Northern Luzon
Whatever lessons they learned in the farm, they practice in the Luna plantation where they take care not only mahogany but also teak and gemelina, and native trees, like narra and kamagong.
Export market
Mario Jr. says they planted Honduras mahogany and teak because these species are most marketable abroad. The plan is for the timber to be sold in foreign markets where they can fetch higher prices.
The bigger plan is also to have a wood processing plant which can cater to other plantations in the area. The family is looking for a partner for a joint venture.
“We are encouraging our town mates to plant treeswhich they can sell to us. That way, they do not have to sell their land as they can earn money from tree farming. Many residents have actually started planting and all houses have trees in their yards,” Mario Jr. says.
According to the Sebastians, they subsist on help from relatives and friends who “paid for the trees which they will harvest years from now.”

A MINI sawmill which the Sebastians use to make furniture. Photo by Yolanda Sotelo, Inquirer Northern Luzon
“It is like they own the trees and we take care of the trees for them,” Mario Jr. says.
The plantation brings income to the family through several means.
One is when they cut down the trees which are not of quality, such as those that are stunted, bent or are sick. These are sold or taken to a sawmill for cutting. The plantation has a small sawmill that they use to make furniture and small wooden items.
Saplings for sale
“We also sell the wildlings [saplings growing in the wild] from P2 to P6, depending on their sizes. Those interested could come and gather the wildlings and pay for what they get. We don’t really count, we believe in honesty,” Mario Jr. says.
Another source of income is selling twigs and branches as firewood for P18 a bundle. These are sold for P28 in nearby town markets.
The Sebastians also conduct on-site tree farming seminars during weekends for a fee of P6,000 to P10,000 per person per day, inclusive of meals.
“We teach them how to plan plantations, how to care for trees, everything that is needed to know about tree farming, based on our experience,” Marco says.
But the biggest satisfaction that the family gets from tree farming is their being able to help nurture the environment.
When they started the farm, the land was almost arid, but now the water table seems to have gone near the surface and springs have sprouted in several areas.
The air is also cooler in the area even during summer, the Sebastians say. Birds and snakes have also been seen there.
After the plantation’s life span, Mario Jr. says 25 percent of the original trees will be left. But there will never be empty spaces because the trees will regenerate on their own, he says.

Virgin coconut oil hailed as cure for Alzheimer’s



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TREE OF LIFE. A farmer in Dumaguete City climbs up a 20-foot coconut tree to gather coconut sap known as tuba which his wife will cook into coco sugar or ferment into coconut gin called “lambanog” to provide livelihood to his family. The tree is known for its many other uses, which makes it one of the most versatile trees in the tropics. Coconut Week ends Sunday with an exhibit and sale of coconut products at SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City. MANDY NAVASERO/CONTRIBUTOR
After previous claims as an antiseptic, AIDS cure, anti-infective, cholesterol-basher, and remedy for various aches and pains, coconut oil is now being hailed as a possible miracle cure for Alzheimer’s.
The American physician, who has been dubbed “Dr. Coconut” for his tireless research into and championing of coconut oil’s healing properties, is back in the country bringing the latest breakthrough in the management of Alzheimer’s and other neurological conditions.
Dr. Bruce Fife presented his evidence at the ongoing 10th Coconut Festival in Mandaluyong City,  relating the remarkable recovery of Steve Newport, 58, from five years of progressive dementia after just 35 days of taking virgin coconut oil (VCO).
Fife has written all about it in his book, “Stop Alzheimer’s Now.”
Newport’s case history
Newport was diagnosed when an MRI scan showed his brain had shrunk, a classic case of Alzheimer’s disease, the progressive, degenerative form of dementia that involves the loss of brain functions and extreme behavioral changes.
Newport’s wife Mary, who is a neonatal doctor at Spring Hill Regional Hospital in Florida, then began a relentless quest to seek a cure that would arrest his deterioration.
“It has been a nightmare to watch his decline and I feel helpless to do anything but watch it happen,” said Mary.
In May 2008, Mary stumbled on a company that was enlisting volunteers to test a new drug for dementia-stricken patients. But like all experimental drugs, the company preferred subjects with moderate forms of the disease, based on how they scored in the MMSE (mini-mental state exam), a standard test of mental status used to screen for Alzheimer’s.
Newport took the test twice and failed. He scored too low, shown to be on the border of severe dementia, to qualify as an experimental subject. Mary was devastated.
MCT miracle ingredient
Possessed of a research background, Mary was able to dig up the results for the new drug called AC-1202 (later known as Axona). She learned from the journal, BMC Neuroscience, that the active ingredient in the drug was MCT (medium-chain triglycerides), an oil that is used to treat epilepsy and also placed in hospital feeding programs for newborns.
Bingo! She knew as a pediatrician that babies needed to develop their brains with the right brain foods and MCT was found in great quantities in VCO, the oil extracted from the fresh meat of coconuts.
Intuitively, she started Newport on a feeding program. Instead of using Axona at $100 per month with 1 dose a day, Mary used VCO—at a cost of $10 a month—giving him 2 tablespoons of a mixture of VCO and its pharmaceutical isolate, MCT, with every meal.
Because of the high amounts of saturated fat in this diet, some have expressed concern about how this could affect blood cholesterol levels.
According to Fife, Newport’s tests have dispelled this notion and in fact his cholesterol levels have actually improved with the good cholesterol (HDL) going up and the bad cholesterol (LDL) going down.
In 18 months, Newport’s severe dementia was totally arrested. He scored high enough in the MMSE tests to be considered to be in the mild range of Alzheimer’s.
Tale of hope, persistence
Inspired by her husband’s recovery, Dr. Mary Newport travels all over the United States telling her story of hope and persistence. She encourages the medical scientific community to keep on with their research into the use of MCTs as a therapeutic aid in treating Alzheimer’s, as well as Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative disorders.
In March 2009, the experimental drug AC-1202 was renamed Axona and approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as a medical food for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease with no therapeutic claims.
When Axona finally came out, it caused intestinal distress and diarrhea among some patients. Others reported that the drug’s effects wore out after only a few hours that they still had to take coconut oil to maintain their ketone levels. Ketones are organic compounds that result when body fat is broken down for energy.
Fife explained that drugs become ineffective after some time and coconut oil, converted into ketones, decrease the formation of free radicals that damage the cells. Hence, coconut oil is especially important for those taking medications.
“Following the Newports’ example, many people with neurologic disorders are now incorporating coconut oil into their diets with good results,” said Fife.
Brain food
He said if any food could be labeled as brain food it would be coconut oil.
According to Fife, coconut oil, converted into ketones, acts as a superfuel to the brain and normalizes brain function, stops the erratic signal transmissions that leads to seizures, and improves cognition and memory.
The MCTs in coconut oil are converted into ketones, which act as high-potency fuel for the brain. The ketone MCTs provide energy to the brain and stimulate healing and repair, he said.
The chemical structure of the MCTs and fatty acids in coconut oil enable them to pass through the blood-brain barrier, which ordinary food or oil cannot break into, he said.
Revived coco industry
Fife credits his visits to the Philippines as triggering his pursuit of coconut research. He said his first visit in 2004 was an eye opener for him. He was amazed at the warm reception he got from his Philippine audience.
“They were thanking me for reviving the coconut industry,” he said.
It was the economic implications for the people that have spurred Fife to continue his research into the health benefits of this tropical food endemic to the country, so much so that the American health community has dubbed him “Dr. Coconut.”
Fife has established a nonprofit organization, Coconut Research Center, to educate the public on the health and nutritional aspects of coconut. He has documented his researches in two books, “Coconut Cures” (2005) and “Coconut Water” which he has made available online in www.coconutresearchcenter.org.
The author has been active in the coconut industry for 35 years, and is a director of the Philippine Coconut Authority governing board.