Environment added as 4th strategic pillar for EAGA

IN lieu of the global issues on climate change, the  Brunei  Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) ministers have adopted environment management as one of its strategic pillars for the sub-regional cooperation.
“The  Philippines  successfully pushed for the inclusion of environment as a new strategic pillar in addition to the three major pillars of the sub-region,” reported Mindanao Development Authority Chairperson Luwalhati Antonino.
The other three strategic pillars of BIMP-EAGA are food basket/food security, ecotourism, and enhancing connectivity.
Antonino, who also serves as the Philippines Signing Minister for BIMP-EAGA, added that the new environment pillar will significantly lay the foundation for food security and ecological integrity in the sub-region. The Working Group on Forestry and Environment crafted recently a list of possible projects under this strategic pillar.
“We have already proposed to the group a carbon sequestration mechanism through massive tree planting in BIMP-EAGA areas,” said DENR 11 Planning and Management head Naomi So, who sits as member of the Working Group.
An exploratory study on establishing a carbon trading bank for BIMP-EAGA countries  to be led by the DENR in partnership with MinDA was also proposed.
Other proposed projects include setting up a coordinating link between the major environment working group in BIMP-EAGA, such as the Heart of Borneo, Coral Triangle Initiative, and Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion.
Brunei Darussalam will also lead an integrated coastal resources management and development training workshop.
“We are advancing the country’s environmental priority programs and projects for  Mindanao through our watershed management program or the  MindaNOW (Nurturing our Waters), which we intend to expand across the sub-region,” Antonino said.
MindaNOW is MinDA’s flagship environmental undertaking that pushes for the adoption of river basin and watershed as key platforms for planning. It seeks to provide an enabling mechanism for achieving environmental integrity and sustainable economic development. [MINDA]