PTFCF-Concepcion Durables, Inc. MOA Signing for the Condura Skyway Run For the Mangroves
The race is on to save the mangroves as the partnership to work together in the 2012 Condura Skyway Marathon between the Philippine Tropical Forest Conservation Foundation (PTFCF) and Concepcion Durables, Inc. (Condura) had been formalized in the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement last Monday, January 30, 2012. PTFCF Executive Director Atty. Jose Andres Canivel and Concepcion Durables Chief Operating Officer Antonio Concepcion signed the agreement. The MOA signing was held 3:00pm at the Prince Albert Hall of the Hotel Intercontinental Makati.
The Condura Skyway Marathon - a race event 5 years in the running-has been advocating and raising funds for the environment. In the past years, runners contributed for various causes-from the Tubbataha Reef, whale sharks (butanding) and the dolphins. The 2012 Skyway Marathon is entitled "Run For the Mangroves", which gives every runner the opportunity to donate three (3) seedlings to reforest mangroves in a coastal community in Zamboanga Sibuguey. Zamboanga Sibuguey is a province 800 kilometers south of Manila in southwestern Mindanao.
Proceeds of the 2012 Condura Skyway Marathon will be turned over to the PTFCF, who will work with people's organization Kapunungan sa Gagmay'ng Mangingisda sa Concepcion (KGMC)-a 320-member fisherfolk association based in Zamboanga Sibuguey-in planting a 10-hectare mangrove forest. This includes the monitoring of the planting site and ensuring the survival of the seedlings.
PTFCF's partnership in the 2012 Condura Marathon is reflective of its mission to improve the status of forests in the country through effective partnerships involving local communities, NGOs-and in this endeavor, the private sector.
The 2012 Condura Skyway Marathon: Run For the Mangroves will be held on Sunday, February 5, 2012 at the Condura-Filinvest Village in Alabang. ÊIt is also the first night marathon in the country, with the races (spanning 6 categories: 42k, 21k, 16k, 10k, 5k and 3k) officially starting at 12:00 midnight and ending 9:00am.
During the event, PTFCF will have a "Save the Mangroves!" Booth, which aims to inform runners about mangroves, and how to help conserve them. PTFCF is also working with artist Tomas Leonor to help create a 96-foot Mangrove Freedom Wall, which the expected 14,000 runners can paint during the event as a symbol of their contribution to the effort to save the mangroves. LeonorÕs work includes the highly successful Dolphins Love Freedom Mural Series and is the brainchild of the Step Juan Project, which helps kids with cancer.