October 20, 2014

DENR-9 visits schools to coach students on nature protection

IPIL, ZAMBO SIBUGAY: Education and mobilization in protecting, conserving and managing the environment and natural resources is the present thrust of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), says its new release forwarded to Misamis News.

That’s why for its intensified advocacy campaign, the aid office in this region, in coordination with PENRO Dante A. Oporto made rounds visiting six intermediate schools in Ipil and Titay.

This regular conduct of information dissemination benefited a total of 1,033 students from the mentioned municipalities and well as communities, said Regional Director Arleigh J. Adorable.

Managing the environment and natural resources is for the present and future generation, Adorable added.

The schools visited by the DENR were Zamboanga Sibugay National High School (ZSNHS), Aurelio Mendoza Memorial College, Titay National High School, Marian College, Sibugay Technical Institute, Inc., and Ipil National High School.

Information officers from the Regional Public Affairs Office, technical services and line bureaus were the resource speakers who taught the students about DENR’s mandate.  

Also included were topics about Climate Change:  Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies, National Greening Program, Water and Biodiversity Conservation, Environmental Discipline, Responsible Mining, Ecological Solid Waste Management and Disaster Risk Reduction.

ZSNHS Principal Alberto Alavaren said his school supports Earth Care and declared their intention to establish a two-hectare mangrove plantation along the coastal area of Brgy. Pangi in Ipil.

Convinced by the communication strategies applied by DENR during the symposium, all the rest of school heads also gave their respective commitments of support for nature conservation.

Each symposium ended with the giving of the latest edition of DENR-9 Newsletter “Recursos Naturales” and other library materials to school heads regarding the topics presented to students.

Meanwhile, around 80 officers and members of the Youth for Environment in Schools-Organization (YES-O) of ZSNHS were trained by DENR-9 through “Dalaw Turo” session for nature conservation program. 

The YES-O is the youth arm of both the DepED and the DENR to heighten pupils’ and students’ participation and action towards environmental protection and conservation at the school level. 

As a co-curricular organization, it implements programs, projects and activities that address various environmental issues and concerns such as Global Warming, Climate Change Adaptation, Deforestation, Watershed Protection, Disaster Risk Reduction, among others.