The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the University of the Philippines (UP) are joining hands to create models of integrated area development at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center (NAPWC) and UP Diliman campus, which are both located in Quezon City.

The collaboration was formalized through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) recently signed between DENR Secretary Gina Lopez and UP Chancellor Michael Tan, together with UP Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs Nestor Castro.

"I feel that the DENR can offer UP an exciting arena where they can parlay their educational know-how, their skills, including community development," Lopez said.

"I am looking here at architecture, community development, engineering, housing and economics. The things are exciting," she added.

Lopez expressed optimism the partnership will turn out well and serve as a model for community development that can be replicated in other areas in the country.

"If it's good for DENR and it's good for the university, it's also very good for the country," she said.

Identified as an area for development is the 25-hectare NAPWC, which Lopez plans to transform into an "ecological paradise" and a tourist attraction.

She said that an "innovative environmental technology" will be put up in the park to serve as a learning ground for communities and local government units across the country.

Meanwhile, Lopez said the UP Arboretum will also be an extension of the educational experience.

Under the MOU, the DENR and UP "shall share, coordinate and combine technical, management, financial and physical resources to pursue research and development, and engage in continuing top-level and technical consultations and multi-disciplinary expert technical assistance."

Both parties also "agree to collaborate to create models of integrated area development (IAD) in the pursuit of social justice and human development."

Chancellor Tan said the undertaking will show that environmental conservation and sustainability can be very compatible with the other needs of the university.

Aside from the budget to be infused by the DENR, Tan said that UP will also provide a financial counterpart.

Lopez is determined to prove that through IAD, the projects that will be developed and implemented will benefit the people who live in the areas. In the process, these areas will serve as models of entrepreneurship.

"It's about creating models. Pwede pala, kaya pala natin," Lopez said.

The MOU also provides that the parties will "undertake projects with consideration on solid waste management, clean air, clean water, biodiversity and the Expanded National Greening Program (ENGP) through the planting of trees and bamboo."

Lopez described the partnership as a great collaboration between the government and the academic community.

Confident on the success of the partnership, Lopez said the DENR will also embark on similar undertakings with other state universities throughout the country. ###

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Published: 20 December 2016

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) could tap workers of suspended mining firms for the government's planned expansion of bamboo and mangrove plantations to fight climate change and poverty.

This was disclosed by Environment Secretary Gina Lopez during a recent dialogue with small-scale miners from Paracale town in Camarines Norte held at the DENR central office in Quezon City. The miners were accompanied by acting Camarines Norte Gov. Jonah Pimentel and some members of the provincial board.

The miners had sought an audience with the DENR chief to ask assistance for mine workers who lost their jobs as a result of the environmental audit conducted on all metallic mining operations in the country.

Lopez urged the miners to get involved in more sustainable livelihood that does not only help the environment but also protect their families from the negative impacts of climate change.

She told miners and local government officials that she could not allow small-scale mining for the moment because it uses mercury that threatens the environment and public health.

"Small-scale mining is illegal, and you don’t want to be caught or have the Ombudsman bar you from public service forever. I cannot help you if it is illegal," Lopez said.

"Help us by growing bamboo and mangrove seedlings. We will fund it, but your earnings will be your own,” she added.

During a recent climate change conference in Morocco where she joined the Philippine delegation, Lopez said the country will embark on a massive expansion of mangrove and bamboo plantations to strengthen the ecological and economic resilience of local communities in the face of climate change and its devastating impacts.

In 2010, an executive order was issued requiring the use of bamboo in at least 25 percent of desk and furniture requirements of public schools, as well as the prioritization in furniture and other construction requirements of government facilities.

Considered as one of the fastest growing members of the grass family, bamboo is also known to sequester as much as 400 percent of carbon per unit area, while giving off 35 percent more oxygen than other trees.

While its resilience and flexibility have made it an important construction material for furniture and houses, its different parts are also a source of pulp and paper products, as well as fiber and food.

Mangroves, on the other hand, have been seen as natural barriers against storm surges while acting as habitats for various marine animals.

Both mangroves and bamboo can also stabilize embankments and prevent erosion brought about by sea level rise, which is one of the identified impacts of climate change.

Although Paracale is not one of the 29 areas identified by the DENR as priorities for area development, Lopez assured the miners that the agency will provide them livelihood assistance.

She also called on Gov. Pimentel to help in the preparation of a work and financial plan that the DENR could use as basis for budgetary allocations and monitoring purposes.

"Plant bamboo. Plant mangroves. Identify marine sanctuaries. I want you to be the first to benefit from the resources that you can find in your area before others do. I will help you,” Lopez said. ###

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Published: 09 December 2016

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has started looking for ways to boost the local production of seaweed, which is an alternative source of income for coastal communities and could help counter the effects of climate change.

In a recent roundtable discussion on seaweed potential for biodiversity-friendly enterprises held at the training center of the Biodiversity Management Bureau in Quezon City, Secretary Gina Lopez disclosed that the DENR has already started the process of identifying suitable sites for seaweed farming in the country, with the help of other government agencies and concerned stakeholders.

She said that some of the potential seaweed farming sites include Calatagan in Batangas, Tambuyong in Quezon, Badian in Cebu, and Caluya Island in Antique, which is near Semirara Island where the controversial coal mining site and power plant is located.

Lopez said the government will not only help in seaweed propagation, but also in marketing its by-products

"The seaweed revenues should affect more than one person while developing an area," Lopez said. "We can get the country out of poverty through this project."

The DENR chief noted the strong market potential of seaweed due to its fast-growing characteristics and high market price, making it an important economic activity to alleviate poverty in the rural areas.

Apart from its economic potential, seaweed is one of the natural and effective carbon sequesters that can be found in the coastal area, and some of its species can grow alongside mangroves.

As such, one of the proposals is to get the fund for the seaweed projects from the Expanded National Greening Program and the People’s Survival Fund.

Using seaweeds for human production and consumption also helps the marine ecosystem as it reduces the organisms that are infesting other lives in the sea.

Among those who attended the meeting were representatives from the Seaweed Industry Association of the Philippines, the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute, seaweed farmers from Tambuyog, Quezon, Badian, Cebu, and Negros Oriental, Mabunao Agricultural Forest Livelihood Improvement Program, National Fisheries Research and Development Institute, Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia, and the Department of Agriculture. ###

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Published: 03 December 2016

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) wants to sit down with fishpen and fishcage operators in Laguna de Bay before the planned imposition of moratorium on the issuance and renewal of their permits beginning January next year.

This was revealed by DENR Undersecretary Arturo Valdez, who also heads the National Anti-Environmental Crime Task Force (NAECTF) that recently conducted demolition operations on a 13-hectare illegal fishpen in Laguna Lake falling within the jurisdiction of Muntinlupa City.

Valdez said the dialogue between Lopez and the fishpen and fishcage operators aims to reassure the government's commitment to providing small-time fisherfolk priority access to the 90,000-hectare lake.

"The thrust there is to send the message that the DENR, under Secretary Lopez, will rationalize the lake and the bias will be for the fisherfolk to have access to their traditional fishing ground," Valdez said.

Valdez said that at the heart of the effort is Lopez's agenda to make Laguna Lake "a showcase for social justice."

"Secretary Lopez has made it very clear that the fisherfolk should enjoy the lake," he said.

The coming dialogue was in line with President Rodrigo Duterte's directive to dismantle vast tracts of corporate and private fishpens and fishcages in order for small-time fisherfolk to have access to their traditional fishing ground.

The lake’s current carrying capacity allows up to only 9,000 hectares for aquaculture, but fish pens and cages are occupying 12,375.18 hectares of the surface water, showing a total of 3,375 hectares of excess area for demolition.

But Valdez believes the actual area could be bigger. "I would say it is more than that," Valdez said.

He said that the demolition “was to send a strong message” to the operators of illegal structures to self-dismantle before they enforce the President's order to dismantle illegal aqua facilities by the second week of December.

"We will give them all the chance to harvest their stock," he added.

Data from the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) show that there are a total of 1,018 registered or legitimate fish pen and cage operators in Laguna Lake, covering a total of 9,519 hectares. Of this number, 713 are fishcage operators, while 305 are fishpen operators.

According to the LLDA, unregistered operators number to 2,261, occupying 2,856 hectares.

In all, a total of 3,246 structures (both registered and unregistered) can be found in the lake area, consisting of 358 fishpens and 2,890 fishcages which show a mix of corporations and individual owners.

The LLDA has developed a map identifying areas for fishpens, fishcages, fish sanctuaries and open fishing, and identified navigational and barangay access lanes to facilitate the movement of people, goods and services within the lake.

To ensure the maintenance of open fishing ground, the LLDA has designated fish sanctuaries covering around 30,000 hectares in Muntinlupa City, 5,000 hectares in Jala-Jala and Talim Island in Rizal and Laguna Bay, and 127 hectares in Brgy. Tabon, Binangonan, Rizal.###

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Published: 01 December 2016

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will remain at the forefront of the local fight against climate change through its intensified programs on massive reforestation, forest protection, and coastal restoration and management.

At the National Climate Change Action Plan Forum held at the Hotel Sofitel Philippine Plaza in Pasay City recently, environment officials said the DENR will continue to work toward achieving the country's contribution to the global effort to combat climate change.

Foremost among these climate change mitigation and adaptation measures are the expanded National Greening Program (NGP) and the Coastal and Marine Ecosystems Rehabilitation Program (CMERP).

NGP is a six-year massive forest rehabilitation program that aimed to cover 1.5 million hectares of degraded forestland with trees by the end of 2016. But it was extended until 2028 through an executive order issued in November 2015 in a bid to rehabilitate 7.1 million hectares more.

Speaking on behalf of DENR Secretary Gina Lopez, Director Ricardo Calderon of the Forest Management Bureau said the NGP remains as the most effective anti-climate change initiative in the country.

Calderon said the NGP, along with the intensified campaign against illegal logging, has the potential to reduce up to 40 percent of the country's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The Philippines, in its intended nationally determined contributions submitted to the United Nations last year, proposed to cut its GHG emissions by 70 percent by 2030.

Calderon said the DENR aims to keep the nation's forests healthy to make them more resilient to climate change and allow them to continue to protect the lives of millions of Filipinos vulnerable to climate change impacts.

But while forests absorb carbon and other GHGs, Calderon said they can also be a major source of carbon emission if they will not be protected from illegal logging activities.

"Trees store carbon inside them, so when they are chopped down, they release the carbon they are storing," Calderon said.

According to him, more than one billion tons of carbon from an estimated 6.8 million hectares of open, closed or mangrove forest covers can potentially be released to the atmosphere if the forests are not properly guarded from illegal loggers.

Meanwhile, Dr. Vincent Hilomen of the Biodiversity Management Bureau made a presentation on CMERP, which began earlier this year and will continue up to 2028.

CMERP seeks to update the baseline conditions of the country's coastal and marine ecosystems while improving and restoring the ecological functions of the species thriving in their natural habitat.

Gigi Perillo of the Environmental Management Bureau discussed the proposed initiatives, including the development and publication of materials for GHG accounting to be used by local government units, the academe and industries.

Perillo also disclosed the plan to conduct studies on soot mitigation and the implementation of the joint carbon mechanism on a national level. #

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Published: 28 November 2016