Photo courtesy of the Palawan Provincial Information Office
The Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has approved a $10 million grant to the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) to fund the Environment and Natural Resources Information System (ENRIS), aimed at enhancing food security and water quality improvement in the province of Palawan.
The project aims to create a web-based ENRIS in the province that will gather the information needed for advanced scientific decision-making to support proper land usage beneficial to a sustainable and climate-resilient ecosystem.
It also seeks to improve its quality for better food production and water quality, in line with the provisions of the Environmentally Critical Areas Network Strategic Environmental Plan and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
Through ENRIS, PCSD will also be able to gather information and data on land resources that will aid in rational land-use planning and development, land productivity, natural resources management, and the development of regulatory policies. Such data and information will also be available to other government agencies for reference.
PCSD has identified target catchment sites for the project, including the towns of Aborlan, Brooke’s Point, El Nido, Narra, Quezon, Rizal, Roxas, and Taytay.
In a meeting with Governor Dennis Socrates, who also chairs PCSD, on Tuesday, KOICA Country Director Kim Eunsub said the ENRIS project, which was conceptualized after a preliminary survey conducted by a KOICA team, will start in 2025 and run until 2028.
“The $10 Million ENRIS project has been finally approved by Korean government for the KOICA’s grant assistance. Our joint vision for the project will now become a reality. We will now be able to establish information system that will be used by PCSD, Palawan local government units and other relevant agencies to manage water, climate and environment in Palawan,” Kim said.
Socrates expressed his gratitude to KOICA for both the grant and the project, emphasizing their valuable contributions to the province’s environmental protection initiatives.
“Your presence here is crucial as we embark the journey in gathering valuable insights and perspectives. It is also an opportunity for each of us to collaborate collective knowledge and to shape our path forward,” Socrates said.
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