The world now is experiencing a lot of new things –specifically the new normal, with face masks and face shields, with social distancing and no mass gathering, and with the use of alcohol and temperature check everywhere, but the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Region 6 is reminding the public that we all have the same and the only planet to take care of.

During the celebration of Environment Month 2021 with the theme: Sama-samang Pagkilos, Sama-samang Paghilom: Ikaw, Ako, Tayo ang Kalikasan, the DENR 6 launched activities either in a hybrid setting while observing the minimum health protocols, or done purely virtual thereby continuing to spread awareness on the urgent need for environmental protection despite the pandemic.

On June 10, the DENR Region 6 officialls and employees celebrated its 34^th DENR Anniversary cum Family Day with the theme: Celebrating A Greener and Safer Environment. Seven personnel from Aklan (3) and Negros (4) were promoted on this day through a virtual oathtaking officiated by the new Regional Executive Director Livino B. Duran.

June 25 is the annual observance of Arbor Day celebration, with the team from DENR 6’s Conservation and Development Division (CDD) who led the launching of the Community Pan-TREE and distributed more than 200 fruit tree seedlings among market goers in Sta. Barbara municipal market.

The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) 6, also on June 25, 2021, has conducted the virtual Kantalikasan on its second year. It aims to encourage more people to care for the environment, and to promote awareness and change through music. Fourteen (14) entries are original compositions with their content focused on environmental protection, conservation and preservation using various music genres such as ballad, pop, classical and jazz. They all vied for the top 3 spot and were judged according to lyrics/impact of the message (40 percent), voice quality (30 percent), musicality (15 percent) and originality (15 percent).

On June 28, the Regional Strategic Communication and Initiatives Group (RSCIG) led the conduct of the virtual On-The-Spot Essay Writing Contest among DENR employees. Top three winners are the two participants from PENRO Guimaras, who bagged the Champion and 2^nd Place awards, and one from PENRO Antique as 1^st Place. Then on June 30, the Administrative Division spearheaded the hybrid Culmination activity dubbed as Pasidungog 2021 and various citations were given out to employees, namely: Service Award, Posthumous Award, and Recognition to Career and Self Development. Winners of the virtual On-The-Spot Essay Writing Contest were also awarded during the culmination activity.

“We may have been limited with what we have done in celebration of the Environment Month 2021 nonetheless, we continue to deliver our mandates and we continue to support our people in the organization by boosting their morale and confidence to continue doing their best in the name of public service,” said the new DENR 6 Regional Executive Director Livino B. Duran.

This year’s theme emphasizes the need for unity, the need to work together and heal as one people caring for our only home – this planet Earth. After all, each one of us is part of nature.

“With this campaign, may we remember that we are the protector and we need to conserve this Earth for the future generation. It is not just the DENR’s responsibility but our individual responsibility, because “Tayo ang Kalikasan,” RED Duran added.

The observance of Philippine Environment Month was mandated by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 237, signed in 1988.

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Published: 30 June 2021

Ocean is a continuous body of salt water and our planet’s largest ecosystem.It stabilizes the climate, stores carbon, nurtures marine biodiversity and directly supports human well-being through food and energy resources, as well as providing cultural and recreational services.

To protect the ocean means sharing our knowledge to saveit and give the future generation a sustainable world. The oceans are now seriously degrading and actions can only be effective if based on sound knowledge informed by science.

The month of May is “Month ofthe Ocean’’ recognizing the responsibility of the state to protect the nation’s marine wealth through Presidential Proclamation No. 57 signed by then President Joseph Estrada on December 11, 1998.

May is the peak fishing season in the country and the observance encourage people to show their support for caring the oceans.

This year’s theme is inspired by the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development –“The Science We Need for the Ocean We Want” giving a hope to increase appreciation on what science can do to protect our oceans and convey these learnings to our fellow citizen.

There is an increasing need to find scientific solutions that allow us to understand the changes taking place in our ocean and to reverse its disastrous effects. Ocean science made great progress over the last century in exploring, describing, understanding and enhancing our ability to predict changes in the ocean system.

In the upcoming decade, we have an opportunity to harness advances in ocean science to achieve a better understanding of the ocean system. This will enable the delivery of timely information about the state of the ocean, and will allow us to define interconnected scenarios and pathways for sustainable development.

Ocean science helps us to address impacts from climate change, marine pollution, ocean acidification, loss of marine species and degradation of marine and coastal environments. To achieve sustainable development, good science is needed to inform policies, increase the knowledge of all stakeholders and deliver solutions to address the decline in ocean health.

It is important to understand and beat marine pollution by protecting and restoring ecosystems and biodiversity. It has benefits such as sustainably feeding the global population by providing food supply and helps develop an equitable ocean economy.

Ocean science aims to a healthy and resilient ocean where marine ecosystems are mapped and protected. It also aims to be a predictablewhere society has the capacity to understand current and future ocean conditions and a transparent one with open access to data, information and technologies.

It also intends to have a safe ocean where people are protected from ocean hazards and to unlock ocean-based solutions to climate change.

“In this COVID-19 pandemic, there is a need to support the health and well-being of people in the community. We rely to the ocean for food security thus it is important to know it well and be able to take care of it for the present and future generation,” said Francisco E. Milla, Jr.

Clean Water and Enhanced Biodiversity Conservation are among the top ten priority programs and project of the DENR Secretary Roy A. Cimatu./DENR6

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Published: 14 May 2021

Get involved. Do your share.

On this day, April 22, 2021, people around the world are one in celebrating Earth Day with the theme: Restore Our Earth. Efforts are now focused on natural processes, emerging green technologies, and innovative thinking that can help restore planet Earth’s ecosystems.

Restoring our earth further requires us humans to engage in acts and foster attitudes that would help restore our earth and promote sustainable development for today and for the future generations

Since its genesis in April 1970, Earth Day has grown to become the world’s largest civic observance that was instrumental in mobilizing people at the grassroots level to help protect and conserve our only planet. Today, there are more than one billion people in 192 countries who now participate in Earth Day activities each year, which helped to promote climate action across the globe.

How can we help restore our Earth? We need not look far, as we can do so within our own backyard, even inside our own kitchens. Let us start doing these actions:

Manage wastes properly by practicing the 3Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle

Plant a tree to help lower your carbon footprint

Conserve water

Use long lasting light bulb

Choose sustainable sea food

Shop wisely

Bike more, drive less

“All of us can help restore the Earth. Every individual action we make creates an impact on the environment, even a simple throwing of garbage on a wrong bin. Thus, it is important that we understand how our behavior can work for either good or bad toward our only home – this planet Earth,” said Regional Executive Director Francisco E. Milla, Jr., of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Since he took the lead, DENR Secretary Roy A. Cimatu has zeroed in his efforts to ten (10) priority programs, with clean water, clean air and proper solid waste management as top three. All the priority programs however, aims to responsibly conserve, manage, develop and properly use the country’s environment and natural resources./DENR 6

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Published: 19 April 2021

Forests are areas where most of the species of flora and fauna are found per square kilometres. It is the lungs of the planet that keep the carbon dioxide released by the animals and give oxygen released by plants which is need by humans.

This year’s World Wildlife Day 2021 with the theme, “Forests and Livelihood: Sustaining People and Planet,” as a way to highlight the central role of forests, forests species and ecosystems services in sustaining the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people globally, and particularly of indigenous and local communities with historic ties to forested and forest-adjacent areas.

This aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals 1, 12, 13, and 15, and their wide-ranging commitments in alleviating poverty, ensuring sustainable use of resources, and on conserving life land.

The celebration the international event at Taklong Island National Marine Reserve (TINMR) in Nueva Valencia, Guimaras last March 03, 2021 is just one of the venues for Department of  Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Western Visayas, other provinces has its own way of celebrating this global event.

Conservation and Development Division (CDD) staff, Forester Mary Ann Astete had briefed the partcipants who joined the on the importance of World Wildlife Day 2021 and the benefits of Forest Bathing.

On the other hand, Johnnys Gange, Park Foreman of TINMR, presented the different wildlife species that could be found within Taklong Island.

After the short lecture, Regional Executive Director Francisco E.  Milla, Jr.  and Provincial ENR Officer Vicente A. Sardina with the POs, Brgy. Captains of San Roque and La Paz, representative from LGU Nueva Valencia, and DENR 6 staffs from the regional and PENR offices, conducted a monitoring and inspection around the mangrove areas of TINMR and enjoyed communing with nature as well as appreciating and identifying the different flora and fauna within the marine park.

“Being able to experience this World Wildlife Day celebration in one of our protected areas in the region is something we need to treasure –the clean water, the fresh air, the biodiversities found in the area plus the mangrove forest bathing we observed,” said RED Milla.

“Surely, this environment of ours is the place where can go back and heal,” he added.

Other activities were paddle boarding/kayaking, island inspection, and coral reefs monitoring/diving.

 “Environmental programs and activities like these are worth documenting for the people of today to learn and appreciate, and for the generation to come,” said Regional Strategic Communication and Initiatives Group (RSCIG) Chief, Artemio Salvador C. Colacion.

Enhancing biodiversity conservation is one among the ten priority programs of Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu./DENR 6

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Published: 08 March 2021

Wetlands are unheard body of waters to some, but it plays a critical part in our natural environment. They protect the shores from wave action, prevents flooding and a precious habitat to terrestrial and aquatic wildlife species.

In the province of Negros Occidental, a coastal wetland named Negros Occidental Coastal Wetlands Conservation Area (NOCWCA) is a contiguous wetlands area with a coastline of 109.52 kilometers that covers the municipalities of Pulupandan, Valladolid, San Enrique, Pontevedra, Hinigaran, Binalbagan, Ilog and the cities of Bago, Himamaylan and Kabankalan.

Named as the 7^thRamsarsite in the Philippines and the 4^th East Asian Australasian Flyway Network Site in the Philippines, NOCWCA is one of the richest and most diverse coastal resources in Western Visayas, particularly mangroves andis home to economically important species such as oysters, green mussels nylon shells, angel wings shells, shrimps and crabs.

Its waters are home to three species of globally threatened marine turtles – the critically endangered (CR) Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), endangered (EN) Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the vulnerable (VU) Olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea). The endangered (EN) Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) also migrates across its coastal areas at certain period of the year.

NOCWCA is a sanctuary for at least 80 species of water birds including the endemic and threatened Philippine duck (Anas luzonica), globally significant population of Black-tailed godwit (Limosa limosa), Great knot ­(Calidris tenuirostris), Herons, Sandpipers, Egrets, Bitterns, Stilts and other species of waterbirds migrates in the area.

It also supports 1.5% of the global population of the endangered (EN) Great knot and 2.1% of the near-threatened subspecies of Black-tailed godwit.

The wetland serves as a habitat for more than 20,000 waterbirds at a time, making it a crucial site for bird conservation.It also hasrare bird species visiting the area including Eurasian oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus), Eurasian wigeon (Mareca penelope), endangered Far eastern curlew (Numenius madagascariensis), endangered Spotted greenshank (Tringa guttifer) and the world’s most critically endangered shorebird species – the Spoon-billed sandpiper (Calidris pygmaea).

Indeed, NOCWCA is rich in terrestrial and coastal biodiversity but it sadly faces some potential threats including the conversion of mangrove forests and other wetlands to commercial, residential or aquaculture uses, pollution by industrial waste, coliform contamination and overfishing in some areas which threaten is abundant biodiversity and the sustainability of local livelihoods.

Wetlands highly affect our lives through its various importance such as its provisionof great volume of food with high level of nutrients that attracts a lot of animal species; it also store carbon through its plants and soil thereby functioning as carbon sink and prevent floods by functioning as natural sponges that trap and stores water, lowering flood heights and reduces soil erosion.

It is also a good source of freshwater, and as we face a growing freshwater crisis, saving the wetlands isn’t too late at all. This year’s theme: “Wetlands and Water” of World Wetlands Day highlights its connection in an inseparable co-existence that is vital to life, wellbeing and the health of the planet.

“Protecting our wetlands here in Western Visayas is as important as protecting ourselves from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that causes the pandemic we are facing nowadays. It is home to wide range of plant species, water animals and also sustains the livelihood of people nearby. As carbon sink,wetland helps mitigate climate change,” said Francisco E. Milla, Jr., regional executive director of DENR Region 6.

Clean water, clean air and enhanced biodiversity are among the top ten priority programs and projects of the Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu.

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Published: 10 February 2021