Communities asked to help maintain coastal resources

CEBU, Philippines - In celebration of World Wetlands Day, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-7 is soliciting the help of communities and other stakeholders in making sure the integrity of coastal resources are maintained by way of a coastal clean-up.

DENR is also exerting efforts for the public to increase their level of awareness on the effects of garbage to the marine resources.

DENR-7 regional executive director Maximo Dichoso said that garbage on the beaches and in the waterways is posing a potential threat or danger to our marine resources where we rely for food and livelihood.

In line with the coastal clean-up activity, nearly 100 kilos of trash mostly plastics, were collected by over 200 volunteers in Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary, LapuLapu City.

Wetlands are lands that may be permanently or seasonally inundated. These include lakes and rivers, swamps and marshes, peatlands, estuaries, tidal flats, mangroves and coral reefs, and even man-made sites such as fish ponds, rice paddies and reservoirs.

 Participants of the coastal cleanup included Department of Tourism-7 officials, Korean and Taiwanese, Pooc Elementary School, Suba Elementary School, Tinggo Elementary School, Santa Rosa High School, Pangan-an Elementary and National High School and other out of school youth.

On the other hand, Dichoso said that DENR Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje bared the move of the DENR, through its Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB) to officially nominate Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR), one of world’s Seven Wonders of Nature, to the Ramsar Convention as a “wetland of international importance”.

 Paje had said that PPUR best exemplifies this year’s WWD theme as it is a wetland and has long been considered a prime natural jewel for our local tourism, drawing both foreign and local tourists.

 According to Paje, the underground river is a part of a national park that encompasses various interconnecting ecosystems from the mountain to the sea, including forests, inland wetlands like rivers and swamps, and coastal wetlands such as tidal flats and sea grass beds. — (FREEMAN)