This she emphasized during the launching program of the Year of the Protected Areas campaign where she delivered the message as a champion of environmental protection and conservation.

“We are facing a triple planetary crisis: biodiversity loss, pollution, and climate change," she said.

She added that the world is experiencing unprecedented environmental changes at speed and on a scale not previously experienced in human history.

“Environmental degradation is largely due to human activities. We caused this problem. So, we must by necessity be the solution. We can reverse this through efficient and effective conservation of our protected areas,” she said.

In a press release, she emphasized that protected areas are our investments to ensure and secure ecological integrity. They provide us with some degree of stability and security. They will help provide a better future for our posterity.

Promoting protected areas is a nature-based solution to address climate change, conserve biodiversity and uphold

The Philippine government recognizes the value and importance of investing in protected areas with the passage of the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System ( ENIPAS) Act of 2018 which she authored.

The ENIPAS increased the total of legislated protected areas to 107 to include 94 natural parks, protected landscapes or seascapes, and reserves.

This paved the way for more extensive protection and effective preservation of a large number of protected areas through access to funding and  prosecution of prohibited acts.