CIRCULAR ACTIONS FOR CLIMATE HOPE. Over 100 students committed to be advocates for climate action following the environmental education held yesterday in Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya.
The activity led by the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office in Aritao is part of the weeklong celebration of Climate Change Consciousness Week with the theme “Circular Actions for Climate Hope”.
It was participated in by grades 8 to 10 students of Sta Clara National High School and grades 5 to 6 students of Kirang Elementary School Annex in the said municipality.
They were educated on the causes and effects of global warming and climate change, and the different ways and solutions to fight climate change.#
ENSURING SUSTAINABILITY OF COMMUNITY-BASED FOREST MANAGEMENT PROJECTS. To enhance enterprise development skills of People’s Organizations (PO) under Community-Based Forest Management (CBFM), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Region 2 recently conducted learning event on organizational enterprise development skills enhancement to all regional and provincial CBFM-PO federation officers in Cagayan Valley.
Adhering to the directive of Regional Executive Director Gwendolyn Bambalan of DENR R2 for continued capacitation development, the two-day course seeks to equip participants on different key concepts of product management, marketing, and development strategies and approaches.
In his message, Assistant Regional Executive Director (ARED) for Technical Services Marcos Dacanay appealed to the PO members to sustain the projects by continuosly growing and nurturing trees in their respective areas.
“The government utilized the forestland through your intervention. We hope this training will help you improve agro-forestry practices toward resource rehabilitation in the upland environment,” said ARED Dacanay.
The participants were also equipped with 7knowledge on financial and records management in systematic, orderly and logical manner.
Meanwhile, Cooperatives Development Specialist II Arnold Abalos of Cooperative Development Authority discussed on registration of CBFM PO to a cooperative aligned with its vision and mission towards economic upliftment and sustainability.
Other attendees were CBFM Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program coordinators in the provincial and community environment and natural resources offices.
In a training conducted in July, this year, the CBFM-POs also learned agroforestry enterprise and development, and sustainable forest management skills such as project proposal writing, managerial and leadership abilities, and networking and collaboration with various organizations.
The CBFM established in 1995 is a government's long-term strategy to manage the country's forest resources. It partnered with POs directly working and managing the said resources in the lowland and upland communities.#
IMPROVING COMMUNICATION COMPETENCIES. To become more effective communicators of environmental programs and advocacies, information officers (IOs) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Region 2 underwent on events management and basic journalism training on Aug. 2-3, this year at Go Hotels, Tuguegarao City.
“Writing effectively is one of your basic competencies as information officers to excel in communicating to the public our department’s priority thrusts and directions,” said Enforcement Division Chief Joel Daquioag who represented Regional Executive Director Gwendolyn Bambalan during the opening program.
In her message, Supervising Administrative Officer Corazon Corpuz emphasized the relevance of the training since the IOs are in the frontline to mobilize the public in environmental protection and conservation.
Carolyn Tumamao, head of the Regional Strategic Communication and Initiatives Group, said the training was organized to equip communication officers in planning and handling environmental events, and improve their competencies in developing communication materials.
Assistant Regional Director Oliver Baccay of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) discussed principles of events management from project proposal, events hosting to activity assessment.
Other topics discussed include basic news and feature writing, and hands-on video editing with PIA Information Officer II Jan Karl Coballes and Audio Visual Aide Technician Alvin delos Santos as resource persons.
To complete the training, participants from the DENR regional and field offices, Mines and Geosciences Bureau, and Environmental Management Bureau prepared project proposal and news and feature articles; and produced a simple video during the workshops.#
DENR R2 PAID COURTESY VISIT TO THE CEZA ADMINISTRATOR. Officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Region 2 and the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) pledged to strengthen environmental protection efforts in the municipality of Sta. Ana, home of the famous 8,000-hectare Palaui Island Protected Landscape and Seascape.
In a dialogue, DENR Cagayan Valley Regional Executive Director Gwendolyn Bambalan and CEZA Secretary and Chief Executive Officer Katrina Ponce Enrile revisited the previous Memoranda of Agreement signed in 1997, 1998 and 2020 binding these agencies to preserve the natural resources, promote ecotourism and enhance social development in the community.
They discussed measures to adapt to climate change and to fight disaster risks particularly this onslaught of the El Niño Phenomenon.
With other environment and CEZA officials, the discussion was anchored with the DENR's one control map environment profile of Sta. Ana presented by Cagayan PENR Officer Enrique Pasion.
The map covering the municipality's land area of over 44,000 hectares provided spatial basis in identifying the natural resources including challenges that are confronting the locality.
The CEZA officials also discussed their plans to ensure the protection of the forests and coastal resources and to promote ecotourism activities in said town.
To enhance forest protection efforts, the DENR committed to conduct regular monitoring and surveillance to forest conservation areas in collaboration with law enforcement agencies.
By virtue of Republic Act No. 7922 known as the "Cagayan Special Economic Zone Act of 1995," the CEZA is mandated to protect, preserve, maintain and develop the forests, beaches, corals and coral reefs within the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Free Port and nearby islands.#
DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE AND TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERS. In order to enhance the leadership capabilities of executives and officials by developing them into innovative and transformative leaders, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Region 2 conducted a three-day Executive Leadership Training in Tuguegarao City.
Undersecretary for Finance and Internal Affairs of the Department of Migrant Workers Atty. Maria Anthonette Velasco-Allones, who serves as resource speaker immersed the participants with comprehensive understanding on topics Embracing Innovative and Transformational Leadership, Essentials of Work-life Balance, Leadership for the 21st Century, and Coaching and Mentoring.
Initiated by DENR Cagayan Valley Regional Executive Director Gwendolyn Bambalan, the first organized leadership training for DENR R2 Executives in the region aims to recognize the role of leaders in achieving productivity in the workplace and providing excellent public service.
“We need to improve our managerial capabilities. With this training, I hope it will inspire you to adopt an innovative and transformative leadership style,” said RED Bambalan during the closing program.
The leadership training was also attended by DENR R2 Assistant Regional Executive Directors, Bureau Regional Directors, and key officials in the regional and field offices.
They were also reoriented on requirements and process flow for the processing and approval of different tenurial instruments, regional citizens charter, pressing operational issues, writing fundamentals, technical report writing, and completed staff work.#
