CATBALOGAN CITY - The Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Management Office convened PLGU Samar’s ENROs for a regular meeting on November 9, 2022 in Basey, Samar.

The path towards achieving sustainable management of Samar’s natural resources and the environment warrants rigid and efficient coordination among all Environment and Natural Resources Management Officers in the province. Since 2017, PENRMO’s regular meetings have served as a signicant avenue for knowledge sharing and capacity development.  

The meeting focused on ​​the Adaptation to Climate Change and the Conservation of Biodiversity, Understanding Climate Change and Disaster in the Philippines, and Agarwood Farming, Inoculation Process and Data Analysis of R.O.I. of Agarwood Plantation.

In a lecture by Dr. Dennis Peque of the Visayas State University’s Department of Forest Science, he indicated that the Asia Pacific, including the Philippines, will observe a decrease in water availability due to a combination of climate change and population increase, biological changes in high altitudes, especially in species and vegetation distribution and plant phenology, coral bleaching, and sea level rise in western tropical pacific. Hence, the need to adapt an ecosystem-based adaptation particularly in governance and policy-making. 

In a separate lecture by Raymund John Doroja, Vice President of Aquilaria Conservation Advocacy Philippines Inc. (ACAP), he advocated that ​​Aquilaria be promoted as a reforestation species due to its economic value, but emphasized that specific and concrete government policy guidelines for its protection and conservation are still warranted.

The Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Management Office continues to take the necessary steps toward the effective management of our environment and natural resources through strengthened coordination, knowledge sharing, and continuous education among ENROs. (Samar PIO)