DENR eyes 8 new marine scientific stations

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said on Friday it would put up eight new marine scientific stations across different regions in the country.

Environment Secretary Ma. Antonia Yulo Loyzaga said during a forum, called “Women in the Maritime Space: Securing the Future of the Indo-Pacific through Strategic Collaboration,” that the initiative includes upgrading the Tubbataha Reef Ranger Station and the Snake Island Station in Palawan.

The DENR will also establish new research stations on Pag-asa Island, located in the disputed West Philippine Sea, and the Verde Island Passage, known as “the center of the center of marine shorefish biodiversity.”

The DENR chief pointed out that the country’s waters “stretch across 220 million hectares,” which are “more than seven times our total land mass.” Noting the role of oceans in climate resiliency and as a source of livelihood, Loyzaga said “we all know that the world’s oceans absorb 90 percent of the heat from greenhouse gases.

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They nurture intricately woven biodiversity that feeds most of our nations and serve as vital pathways for communications and 80 percent of global trade.”