THE government is developing a five-year action plan to strengthen the country’s environmental protection regime.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Region 4A (Calabarzon) office played host to the recently concluded Third National Summit on Environmental Law Enforcement at the Hotel Dominque in Tagaytay City to gather inputs from various stakeholders.
DENR Assistant Secretary Marcial C. Amaro, concurrently the chairman of the National Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee-Subcomittee on Environmental and Natural Resources, said the summit aimed to formulate a road map or action plan to improve the Philippine environmental law enforcement in the next five years.
Around 120 officials and representatives from the Bureau of Customs, Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Justice, Forest Management Bureau, Land Transportation Office, Mines and Geosciences Bureau, National Bureau of Investigation, National Museum, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, Philippine Air Force, Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Ports Authority, Philippine National Police Maritime Group, Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau, Environmental Management Bureau, the DENR Regional Directors, and DENR-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao took part in the two-day event.
Specifically, the summit aimed to come up with a multiyear action plan and to identify activities to be incorporated in the road map or action plan, and its implementation for the next five years.
The event held on April 15 and 16 is supported by the United States through USAID’s Office of Environment, Energy and Climate Change led by Joseph Foltz, its deputy director.
During the summit, Foltz said that the top 3 illegal businesses in the world are the illegal trade of drugs and weapons, and illegal wildlife trafficking.
Illegal wildlife trafficking, he said, is estimated to be worth of $25 billion or more than P1 trillion with the price of endangered wildlife products, such as elephant ivory, now at $2,100 per kilogram, thrice the price in 2010, shark fin is sold at $650 per kilogram. Clearly, to some people, the reward outweighs the risks, he said.
Foltz said the US government will continue to support the Philippines in collaboration with various stakeholders to help stop illegal wildlife trafficking.