‘Go to school on lake’

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has undertaken a project to turn an 8,125-hectare Oriental Mindoro lake into a “classroom.”

DENR and the Divine Word College of Calapan partnered to launch, “Bangklase: Klase sa Bangka, Ibang Klase,” an educational shipboard project to preserve Naujan Lake National Park.

Naujan Lake, the country’s 5th largest, was named in 1999 a “wetland of international importance” by the Geneva-based Ramsar Convention.

The lake has 14 species of fish and is an important feeding or wintering area for a large number of migratory ducks and other waterbirds.

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said in a statement the project “breathes new life to government efforts to inspire deeper and wider interest in Philippine environmentalism.” Jeannette I. Andrade