DENR, Rizal tie up to protect environment and map out disaster resilience programs

RIZAL’S climate action programs are receiving a boost from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources with the recent launch of eight multistakeholder collaboration projects for environmental protection and disaster resilience.

DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga and Rizal Governor Nina Ricci Ynares activated Project TRANSFORM (Transdisciplinary Approach for Resilience and Environmental Sustainability through Multistakeholder Engagement) with programs to enhance food and water security, waste management, and sustainable livelihood.

“Project TRANSFORM is a two-yearold initiative of the DENR that seeks to converge efforts and expertise of the government, academe, private sector, and civil society in the country’s cities and municipalities nationwide to alleviate poverty through green and blue jobs, enhance community resilience to the impacts of climate change, and promote strong public-private partnerships,” said

Loyzaga.

Project TRANSFORM is an offshoot of a panel discussion in the first multistakeholder forum of the DENR in 2022, with Ormoc City, Leyte, as the pilot implementation area.

Project TRANSFORM was launched last year in the provinces of Bataan and Surigao del Norte. It is now being implemented in the municipalities of Limay, Mariveles, and Orion in Bataan province and in the cities of Malimono, San Francisco, and Burgos in the province of Surigao del Norte.

The province of Rizal, with a land area of 1,308.92 square kilometers and a population of over 3.3 million people, hosts five protected areas. These are the Hinulugang Taktak Protected Landscape, the Pamitinan Protected Landscape, the Kaliwa River Forest Reserve, the Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape and the National Park, Wildlife Sanctuary and Game Preserve recognized under Presidential Proclamation 1636.