"Good Roots" Project

In a first-ever collaboration of industry, government, and academe, Caltex (Philippines) Inc. helped launch the “Good Roots” Project on Earth Day 1991. By the time it was over, the project had drawn the efforts of nearly 500 family farmers who planted and raised 43,587 trees. Along the way, participants learned to maximize their yields without resorting to destructive practices. By combining theory with practice – and stressing the economic benefits of respecting nature – the project promoted environmental awareness and responsibility.

Officially known as “Multi-Purpose Tree Species, Wood Use and Farming Systems Research,” “Good Roots” was sponsored by Caltex, U.S.-based Southern Methodist University (SMU)’s Study of Earth and Man, and the Philippines’ Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Aimed primarily at rural communities, the five-year plan strove to show that economic progress and environmental goals need not conflict.

Good Roots provided seedlings, technical information, plastic bags, insecticides, fertilizers, and tools. Participants contributed labor, indigenous materials for construction and maintenance, and potting soil. The farmers provided the land. Good Roots sponsored educational field trips and an annual awards ceremony to recognize outstanding participants.

The program emphasized working with elementary schools in the area by contributing seedlings for school projects.

On September 30, 1997, Good Roots II was launched, committing Caltex to duplicate the Good Roots Project in Lobo, Batangas over a five-year period from 1997 to 2001. Good Roots II initiated a study on the Philippines’ teak tree, considered a threatened plant species, to generate greater public interest in its preservation and survival.

Newspapers featured articles about the environmental rehabilitation, and firsthand accounts of the experiences and progress of farmer-participants, each of whom had received training in planting and maintenance.

Good Roots continued its mission of protecting the environment and helping increase the livelihood opportunities of people in other communities in 2002. In giving life to tens of thousands of trees, Good Roots has become a sustainable project that can be carried on long after the Caltex team has moved on to other activities and locales.