Rizal’s climate action programs are receiving a boost from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources with the recent launch of eight multi-stakeholder 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-year-old 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 multi-stakeholder 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.
“These are immediate and actionable opportunities ahead of us and we look forward to seeing how we can link what has already been done and what else could be possible areas for collaboration,” Loyzaga said.
The strategic engagement and the activities under Project TRANSFORM are guided and supported by the National Resilience Council, Peace and Equity Foundation, Zuellig Family Foundation, Philippine Business for Social Progress and First Philippine Holdings Corp.
The projects for Rizal include sustainable water security, regenerative tourism, waterways and riverbank stabilization, sustainable solid waste management, nature trees preservation, greenhouse gas accounting, regenerative tourism, sustainable livelihood and rainforest connect to be implemented in Antipolo City, Baras, Tanay, San Mateo, and Rodriguez (formerly Montalban).
Prime Infrastructure Foundation Inc. executive director Dave Jesus Devilles during the launch signed a memorandum of agreement for the Sustainable Water Security Project together, along with with Loyzaga, Ynares, Antipolo City Mayor Jun Ynares, San Mateo Mayor Bartolome Rivera, Rodriguez Mayor Ronnie Evangelista and National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) CALABARZON regional director Carlos P. Buasen Jr.
The partnership aims to increase the forest cover of the Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape, reduce its vulnerability to erosion and landslides, increase water supply in the lowland communities and address poverty alleviation and food security in upland communities.
In the goal to shift towards more sustainable tourism for Tanay, the DENR launched the Regenerative Tourism for Resilient Tanay through another agreement.
Along with the Tanay Mayor Rafael Tanjuatco, signatories for the project are the Bureau of Corrections Deputy General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr., Manila Water Company Inc. president and chief executive officer Jose Victor Emmanuel De Dios, A Brown Company Inc. executive vice president Paul Francis Juat and University of Rizal System president Nancy T. Pascual.