BACOLOD CITY – The Negros Occidental provincial government has strengthened its campaign to further protect its natural resources through the establishment of the Provincial Education and Advocacy Center for Environment or PEACE.
The Provincial Environment Management Office (PEMO) has been charged with managing the center. As of Tuesday, at least 22 organizations have joined the network to serve as environmental partners. They work harmoniously together based upon their respective mandates towards sustainability.
Julie Ann Bedrio is the head of PEMO. She invited groups that want to take part in the conservation and protection (CPR) campaign to get in touch.
“Let us all be part of the CPR campaign,” she said.
Partners working with the provincial government’s environment campaign comprise government organizations, non-government organizations, local government units (LGUs), inter-LGU alliances, people’s organizations, the academe, private, and religious sectors.
“To consolidate the efforts, initiatives and innovations of the partners, the PEACE is created to serve as the center of the network of environmental partners,” the PEMO said in a statement.
The center will use various platforms to raise environmental awareness through education and forum, discussions and social marketing. It will also promote environmentally-friendly approaches such the Ecosystem Approach to Environmental Management, Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management, Integrated Coastal Management and the Provincial Natural Resources Management Framework of Negros Occidental.
It will also support environmentalalism advocacy, environmental justice, and environmental positive activism, such as using humor, art, and stories of hope and inspiration, climate reality campaign, and volunteerism.
“The end goal of PEACE is to peacefully unite efforts of experts and environmental activists and come up with the harmonize agreements and action points,” it added.
The initiative is also anchored and consistent with Republic Act 9512 or “An Act to Promote Environmental Awareness through Environmental Education and for other Purposes”.
During the first PEACE conference held on April 29 as part of the province’s World Earth Day and “Galing Pook” Photo Exhibit activities, the partner-organizations drafted a manifesto for the “No Plastic Campaign”.
According to the PEMO, the PEACE summit or conference will take place twice a year. (PNA)