DENR-18 head to implement green passport program in NIR

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines – Regional Director Al Orolfo of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Region 18, has announced he will implement the “green passport program” in the Negros Island Region.

Orolfo, in his recent visit here after his appointment as DENR-18 director, told The Freeman the NIR has great potentials for eco-tourism and thus the “green passport program” will be suitable for implementation.

The green passport program, which he started in Region 7 (Central Visayas) when he was still assigned there, is designed to promote eco-tourism, involving students enrolled in the natural sciences to become eco-tourism ambassadors, he said.

Part of the program would be to provide the students with competencies and trainings, and then they will be given opportunities to develop themselves as eco-tourism entrepreneurs, said Orolfo.

“We would like to make the youth who are powerful in social media to become ambassadors in eco- tourism,” he said,

Among the agenda for the NIR would be to address the biodiversity because DENR recognizes it as a biodiversity region with unique species needing protection and conservation, Orolfo added.  (FREEMAN)