Luna, Apayao - Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-Cordillera Regional Executive Director Ralph C. Pablo, in his keynote speech during the first Environmental Summit hosted by the PLGU-Apayao, emphasized primacy of behavioural change to protect the environment.
Pablo, in his talk before 300 participants, quoted United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ assertion that making peace with nature is the defining task, the top priority of the 21st century, now that nature is striking back humanity with growing force and fury. The director likewise reminded the people of what they can do, citing Atonio’s challenge to humanity being the solution to the same environmental problems they caused saying.
“Let’s admit it. Human activities are the root of our environmental problems. This means that human action could be the solution,” Pablo argued.
In the summit held on Tuesday, 15 August 2023, at the the BGVJR Memorial Sports Center,Luna, Apayao, the regional director mentions the role of indigenous practices and customs which could effectively conserve natural resources, but likewise cautioned that such practices must be attuned to the developments of the changing times.
Acknowledging the legacy of the indigenous ancestors as stewards of the world's biodiversity on land, Pablo recognized the Indigenous Knowledge, Systems and Practices (IKSPs), “distilled over millennia of close and direct contact with nature. In all our diversity, we, living in indigenous local communities, never forgot the basic principle that our environment should be at the heart of our economies and societies rapidly growing.”
“We owe it to ourselves being the present generations, and even the future generations, to protect and nurture nature, to prevent a worsening climate, and [to] build a better future for humanity," Pablo reiterated while pointing out problems to be addressed naming agricultural land conversation, infrastructure development, and extractive industries as some environmental threats that the country now experience due to the rapid urbanization of communities.
Pablo went on saying that our ancestors have lived centuries of direct interaction with nature, and they passed on to us the belief of oneness of life and that we grew up recognizing that humanity is part of nature, not apart from, neither above it.
Additionally, Pablo said that the realization of Sustainable Development Goals is an intergenerational and multi-sectoral responsibility despite the global threats of nature's revenge, putting forward some proposed actions which he hopes everyone will take part in.
Among said proposed activities include community-based conversion efforts, giving high regard to the rights of the IPs in terms of carrying out environmental policies, programs, projects and activities, and providing guidance to each other in reshaping human values towards nature.
In closing, Pablo encouraged everyone to empower themselves and take appropriate actions to address environmental problems, taking into consideration nature, culture and human well-being.
“Let this event be a beginning of something new, something good, and something that will be a catalyst of change for our changing world,” Pablo added.
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