The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has completed the natural resource geospatial database program that makes it possible for the government to identify priority areas where the private sector may invest in water supply services.
“We have now completed the entire inventory of surface water in the Philippines. We are now able to match where there are water resources to actually service the needs of communities, industries and sectors. We have discovered that all over the country, there are still about 40 million people still unserved or underserved,” DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga, said in Pasay City on Tuesday.
According to the DENR chief, they have identified 247 areas with great promise and have received around 100 letters of interest from around the country.
The DENR also found that of the 15 million land areas classified as forest lands in the Philippines, only around 7 million remain covered with trees.
“Forests are resources that will enable us to determine how much water we can store in our aquifers and river systems and receive and impound them. We value our forests in terms of soil erosion control for downstream flooding. We also value our forests for the carbon economy, the carbon credits that we realize to offset whatever is released in terms of greenhouse gas emissions,” Loyzaga added.
The DENR said the inventory will allow for the development, expansion and responsible extraction of metallic and non-metallic minerals needed to fuel the country’s plans for a low-carbon future.
Loyzaga said the DENR also recently completed the profiling of 114 protected areas to ensure they provide the ecosystem the service needed to manage floods and ensure water availability.
The DENR is also scheduled to launch the country’s first mangrove map made in coordination with the Philippine Space Agency citizen scientists. Loyzaga said mangroves protect the country’s coastlines from storm surge hazards.
The agency said the Department of Public Works and Highways and the National Irrigation Administration are designing multiple-use infrastructure for flood control and store water.
