DENR pushes for more investment in Wetland Conservation

The Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR) urges the business sector and government officials to invest in wetland conservation projects. As part of their argument, the DENR cited the Boracay Wetland Conservation Park rehabilitation project.

“The Boracay Wetland Conservation Park illustrates the value of multi-sectoral convergence in conservation work. The wetlands of Boracay are now under different phases of rehabilitation,” Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said during the celebration of World Wetlands Day 2022.

“Thanks to our wetland adopters, the Energy Development Corp. (EDC), Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., Boracay Tubi System Inc., J.G. Summit, Olefins Corp., and San Miguel Corp.,” he said.

The Energy Development Corporation has since formally turned over the rehabilitated park to the DENR. Cimatu has praised the EDC for being the first private entity to respond to his department’s Adopt-A-Wetland Program, which aims to recover and restore the nine wetlands of Boracay.

Cimatu claims that the program transformed Boracay’s Wetland No. 2 “from a degraded wetland to what it is now – an arboretum of native trees, an ecotourism site, and an educational center for conservation.”

According to the DENR, these wetlands act as the “kidney of the Earth” as they “filter water through vegetation and substrates, help mitigate the effects of climate change and provide healing through their recreational uses.”

The Philippine government has recognized the importance of these ecosystems, even going so far as to declare Feb 2 National Wetlands Day. The date also marks the anniversary of the Convention on Wetlands, adopted as an international treaty in 1971. Presidential Proclamation No. 74, Series of 1999 created the national holiday “in recognition of the immense importance of wetlands to the welfare of the Filipino people and the protection of global biodiversity.”

Source: Philstar