Php 1.2-B “Protect Wildlife” Project Launched to Boost PHL Biodiversity Conservation

Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) formally launched Monday a Php 1.2-billion “Protect Wildlife” project that hopes to help protect and manage species and natural habitats in the Philippines.

BMB Director Theresa Mundita Lim said Protect Wildlife covers a wholistic approach promoting cooperation between both project proponents and other environmental stakeholders to achieve such goal for natural resource conservation and sustainable development.

“We have thousands of species and continue discovering new ones,” Lim said at the launch’s side, highlighting urgency for the project.

USAID said Protect Wildlife was its first Philippine project aligned with the US government’s newly signed Eliminate, Neutralize and Disrupt Wildlife Trafficking Act of 2016.

Such law targets addressing global illegal wildlife trade, USAID added. (PNA)
RMA/CJT/EDS