For the first time, activities for Philippine Environment Month to be held online

MANILA, Philippines — Due to the continuing threat of coronavirus disease, activities for the Philippine Environment Month this June will be observed online, a first in its more than three-decade history, the Department of Natural Resources (DENR) said.

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said Monday the month-long celebration should serve as an opportunity for the public to reflect on the importance of a cleaner environment as people around the world have started adapting to the “new normal” brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He noted that certain restrictions triggered by the crisis resulted in positive environmental changes such as improved air and water quality, resurgence of wildlife, and renewed interest in urban gardening for food security and sustainability.

“The stay-at-home orders and other restrictions have somehow allowed our environment to quietly return to its natural pristine state, and we hope these positive environmental changes will form part of the new normal,” Cimatu said in a statement.

The month of June was declared Philippine Environment Month by virtue of Proclamation No. 237 signed in 1988 by then President Corazon Aquino to raise environmental consciousness among Filipinos. The celebration coincides with the World Environment Day, which is observed on June 5.

For this year’s 32nd Philippine Environment Month, the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) has lined up virtual activities for the celebration with the theme: “Protect Nature. Sustain our Future. #HealNature4Our Future.”

According to Cimatu, EMB will conduct for the entire month of June the “Greenviro Games” or online learning games including trivia quiz, crossword puzzle, word search and bingo. Winners will receive bamboo notebooks and limited edition eco-bags as prizes.

On June 5, Envieducasong, a song cover of the EMB Kantalikasan Singing Ambassadors will be posted online. Kantalikasan is a song writing competition held every year to encourage local talents to create songs about the environment in any musical genre.

Cimatu said an online storytelling for kids will be held on June 12 featuring stories on environmental awareness and protection of nature. Stories to be showcased are the “Basura Monster” and the premier of the animated video “Ang Paglalakbay ni Niño at Niña,” based on the storybook of the same title about the climate phenomena El Niño and La Niña.

Aside from these activities, “upcycled” craft created during the community quarantine will likewise be showcased in the online Envicraft Gallery in the second and third week of June.

From June 19 to 29, entries for the “Sing for the Earth,” a Kantalikasan jam session and the Envileague, an environmental comic hero design contest, will be posted for online voting for the People’s Choice Award.

On the last week of June, the EMB will hold an online lecture series featuring “Surviving COVID-19 Pandemic,” which will discuss environmental management in times of the COVID-19 pandemic, and “Way Forward to Green Recovery,” which will tackle ways for green recovery as the new normal.

Cimatu added that all EMB regional offices will also hold their own activities, including the “Greenketching” online poster making contest, webinars on solid waste management, environmental quiz bee, Kashun Di Cordillera environmental music video production contest, and plant and flaunt photo contests.