With help from Solaire Resort and developer and Manila Water Co. Inc. owner Enrique Razon Jr., the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will reforest a 1,800-hectare area of the Upper Marikina River basin protected landscape for water security, watershed protection, and forest carbon and biodiversity management.
“We’re very glad for this new effort on the part of the public and private sector to address the very complexity that we are facing in terms of risks for the country. The private sector is among the leading engines of growth for the country, and we would like very much to continue exploring this type of multi-stakeholder partnerships to move the agenda of the department forward,” DENR Secretary Antonia Loyzaga said.
The DENR chief and Razon of the Prime Infra-led WawaJVCo Inc. recently signed a memorandum of understanding, deemed a“a milestone partnership,” in line with the vision and mission of the DENR and the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) framework of Prime Infra integrating sustainability thinking in resource management and decarbonization strategies.
Razon is also the chairman and chief executive officer of the International Container Terminal Services Inc., the Philippine port-handling giant; chairman of Bloomberry Resorts Corp. of the $1.2-billion Solaire Resort and Casino.
“We’re very grateful that some of our work in terms of keeping our forests whole and generating new forests will be part of the work of this group as well. Thank you very much, Mr. Razon, and to the group.
We hope that this will be the first of many other endeavors together,” Loyzaga said.
“This memorandum of understanding for environmental stewardship between government and private sector reflects the commitment of both parties to develop and implement science-based strategies in support of sustainable development,” Razon said in a statement.
“We thank the DENR for making it possible for us to contribute to environmental protection and biodiversity management,” he cited.
WawaJVCo is the developer and operator of the Wawa Bulk Water Supply Project in Rizal designed to deliver a reliable water supply of at least 518 million liters per day to Manila Water Co. Inc., and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System