How DENR’s geospatial database office will help environmental management, climate action
MANILA, Philippines — The environment department created this year a geospatial database office that will help enhance the protection of the environment and the conservation of the country’s natural resources through satellite imagery.
The geospatial database office identifies and puts values on the country’s natural resources, allowing the government to properly manage these and strengthen the enforcement of laws.
“We suggested to him (President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.) that it would be essential to manage our natural resources through establishing a physical baseline of what’s there in terms of our natural resources in order for them to be accounted for, to be valued properly, and to be managed properly,” DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Loyzaga said.
The new office, which was created in February, also monitors the progress of the department’s conservation and reforestation efforts.
The Philippines is one of the severely deforested countries in the tropics, with only seven million hectares of forested land. Ninety percent of the archipelago was believed to be covered by forests in the 16th century.
“What this will do is allow us to identify where the priority is in terms of forestation, reforestation, afforestation or where should the water systems and infrastructures be put up in order to reach the most populations in need,” Loyzaga said.
“We can actually make use of that in terms of climate change mitigation and adaptation, and disaster risk reduction,” she also said, noting that forests provide livelihoods to communities, contribute to water conservation, sequester and store carbon dioxide, and help prevent floods.
According to Loyzaga, the DENR is targeting to reforest between one and two million hectares of land in the Philippines.
The office will also play a role in the creation of a national capital accounting system led by the DENR and the National Economic and Development Authority.
Collab with space agency
Carlos Primo David, DENR undersecretary for integrated environmental science, leads the geospatial database office. The small team of 10 people is composed of experts from the science community and the academe.
Loyzaga said the DENR was able to establish the geospatial database office without seeking additional funding.
“We’re making use of the resources that are available for DENR this fiscal year. We’re looking to build more capacity to acquire the satellite images that we need and processing software in order to continue the work,” she said.
The DENR signed a memorandum of agreement with the Philippine Space Agency in February for the creation of the national environment and natural resources geospatial database.
Loyzaga earlier said the collaboration with the PhilSA will significantly support the development of strategies for a science-based, risk-informed, ethical and equitable stewardship of the environment.
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