DENR seeking shift to more ‘developmental’ green role

THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has released an order realigning the agency to be more involved in developmental projects to aid a shift in favor of a “green economy.”

Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez, according to a statement on Thursday, recently issued DENR Administrative Order No. 2017-08, a set of guidelines for adopting the “green economy model” where community members create sustainable goods and services for the rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems.

“The DENR is now ready to lead government efforts toward a shift to a green economy that values and protects the natural environment, and provides wellpaying and decent jobs to local communities,” the statement read.

Ms. Lopez has been seeking to demonstrate the economic viability of shifting to a green economy after she ordered the closure of 22 mines and suspended five others, a decision contested by mining stakeholders who noted the impact on the mining labor force, among other issues.

“It is in taking care of the environment that all the Filipino people will truly benefit,” Ms. Lopez was quoted as saying in the statement.

The directive is cited Republic Act No. 10771 or the Philippine Green Jobs Act of 2016, “and her promise to move the DENR from a regulatory agency to a developmental one,” it said.

Among the development and rehabilitation activities to be undertaken under the program are the Enhanced National Greening Program with focus on the expansion of bamboo and mangrove plantations, the biochar program, the Sustainable Coral Reef Ecosystems Management Program, the Coastal and Marine Environment Program, and the National Ecosavers Program.

Other activities include ecotourism, mining rehabilitation, pollution mitigation and bioremediation, which is a natural technique in waste management that utilizes the organisms to remove pollutants from a contaminated site.

The statement added that the agency is open to all interested households located within and adjacent to existing and potential project sites, as well as organized community enterprises composed of households interested in various development and rehabilitation projects of the DENR.

Under the green economy program, participating households will get the chance to have tenurial rights and access to all DENRcontrolled resource- based programs and projects.

“Poverty is the reason why the environment is desecrated, and if we can invest in such a way that the community keeps the money, why not do it?” Ms. Lopez said. —