Tagaytay City, Cavite – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) CALABARZON Regional and Field Data Managers for Lawin Forest and Biodiversity Protection System underwent a workshop to strengthen the forest protection efforts of the department and enhance the implementation of the said System, from August 3-5, 2022 at View Park Hotel in Tagaytay City.

The workshop, which specifically involved analysis of the 2021 Lawin data and first semester of 2022 assessment of the Lawin System implementation, was organized by the Forest Management Bureau (FMB) and was participated in by selected Lawin Data Managers of all DENR field offices.

“Sa tulong ng FMB at ninyo (Lawin Data Managers), maa-analyze natin bakit gan’on ang trend ng mga nao-observe sa field… para sa gan’on, ang ating departamento through FMB ay makaisip o makagawa ng isang hakbang para itong threats na ito na palagi nating nao-observe ay ma-address natin ng mahusay at, siyempre, naka-angkla sa mandato natin at sa vision ng ating bagong Secretary,” DENR CALABARZON Assistant Regional Director for Technical Services, Alfredo C. Palencia said in his welcome message, emphasizing the relevance of the activity in relation to the mandate of the department to protect and conserve the remaining forests and forest resources, and the policy direction of new Environment Secretary Maria Antonio Yulo-Loyzaga which focuses on building climate resilient communities and applying science-based approach in management.

Palencia also stressed that the data and information gathered and consolidated using the Lawin System will give the decision makers the right perspective and idea on what is happening in the forest areas.

Per Joint FMB-Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) Technical Bulletin No. 2016-01, “LAWIN is a forest and biodiversity protection system that integrates forest, biodiversity and threats monitoring, implementation of interventions to address threats and monitoring of the response of the forest ecosystem to these management interventions”. 

The system uses open-source technology for biodiversity and threats monitoring through a smartphone app for electronic encoding of field data and an open-source software for geo-spatial analysis of collected data in forest ecosystems. It was first introduced in the region in 2016 through FMB and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Based on the consolidated report of the DENR CALABARZON Enforcement Division regarding the Lawin patrol data gathered for the first semester of 2022, a total of 91 threats have been recorded, with infrastructure (nipa hut, fenced portions, riprap, etc.) as the most observed threat, followed by garbage, cutting of trees, kaingin, logging trail, mining and quarrying, landslide, fire, and typhoon damage. 75 of the said threats were already addressed while 11 have not yet been acted and five, considered as invalid observations due to technical error.

DENR CALABARZON Enforcement Division will be holding a regionwide workshop on Lawin system implementation next week to re-echo the salient topics and agreements during the workshop organized by FMB, address and rectify technical issues, and discuss measures to be taken to further enhance its implementation.###

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Parent Category: News & Events
Category: Press Releases
Published: 17 August 2022