Int’l agencies help fund PH environmental projects

Solar power station. AFP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—International donors and funding agencies play a big part in the development goals of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, with big-ticket projects worth more than P30 billion currently in implementation.

The DENR is in charge of 41 environmental projects costing P31 billion and funded by donor agencies, said Environment Undersecretary Manuel Gerochi.

Among these projects are the 10-year Forestland Management Project funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, and the six-year Integrated Natural Resources and Environmental Management Project under the Asian Development Bank.

The DENR also recently approved 14 new projects costing P14 billion, Gerochi said in a recent meeting with representatives from funding agencies, including the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme, as well as finance and budget officials.

“Development and financial assistance remain a very important component in the delivery of the DENR’s mandate and in the successful implementation of our programs and projects,” he said.

Of the existing and newly approved projects, two-thirds are funded through foreign grants, while the rest is shouldered by government.

“About 11 percent, or more than P2 billion, of the DENR’s P19 billion budget for 2014 is allocated for the agency’s share in foreign-assisted projects,” the agency said in a news release.

Gerochi said the foreign-assisted projects were all consistent with government’s goal of inclusive growth and poverty reduction, environmental integrity, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and the empowerment of the poor.

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