SULU - Over 100 people, mostly young adults, championed environmental protection and promoted sustainable development goals in the southern Philippine province of Sulu.
The campaign, an initiative of the Sulu Provincial Youth Development Office and the Sangguniang Kabataan Provincial Federation, was launched during the two-day 2nd Sulu Youth Summit 2023 which concluded Friday.
It was also in line with the celebration of the International Youth Day whose theme was “Green Skills for Youth: Towards a Sustainable World.”
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| Photos released by the Sulu provincial government show participants to the Sulu Youth Summit 2023. |
Governor Sakur Tan, the guest of honor, encouraged the participants to continuously advocate the protection of the environment, saying the future of Sulu is in the hands of the youth.
He vowed to support the endeavors of the Sulu Provincial Youth Development Office and the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Provincial Federation, saying the provincial government has embarked in massive cleanliness and beautification projects involving municipal governments and other stakeholders.
During the summit, the participants vowed to strongly campaign for a cleaner and greener “Lupah Sug,” referring to the Muslim province. They also planted mangroves in the coastal town of Maimbung, the historical seat of the Sultanate of Sulu; and planted coffee beans at a demo farm also in the same town. Sulu Provincial Agriculture headed by Virginia Arreza led the planting activities.
Sulu is a major supplier of coffee beans in the country.
They also discussed “green skills” at the summit in an effort to further enhance their abilities and knowledge, and values and attitudes needed to live in, develop and support a sustainable and resource-efficient society.
Banking on the United Nations 17 goals on sustainable development, Tan, in a brief phone interview, said the provincial government is serious in achieving the urgent call for action by all countries: “End poverty in all its forms, Zero Hunger, Health, Education, Energy, Economic Growth, Infrastructure, and industrialization; Inequality, Climate Action, Oceans, Biodiversity, Forests, and Desertification.”
He was referring to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all UN Member States in 2015, which provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. The member countries recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth and all while tackling climate change and working to preserve oceans and forests.
Asis Saji, SK Federation president, and Adnan Mohammad, SK Focal Person, were among the speakers at the summit and led the participants in various discussions.
Arreza and Ar. Fatima Nur-aini S. Usban, a project evaluation officer of the Provincial Planning and Development Office, also shared their knowledge and expertise on Urban Gardening and Climate Change and its action. The consequences of climate change now include, among others, intense droughts, water scarcity, severe fires, rising sea levels, flooding, melting polar ice, catastrophic storms and declining biodiversity, according to the U.N.
The participants were grouped and tasked to make a resolution addressing the environmental problems in Sulu, especially flooding. They also held “Usapang Kalikasan” which discussed various environmental programs in the province.
A group of ocean researchers pose with Governor Sakur Tan.
Tan said he also met Saturday, August 26 with a group of researchers from the University of Philippines - Mindanao and Mindanao State University – Sulu and Mindanao State University - Tawi-Tawi College of Technology and Oceanography and discussed the Applied Biodiversity Research for Holistic Advancements in Mindanao.
He said the project aims to look at the reef fish diversity at the Sulu Sea and Celebes Sea and forge collaborations with the higher educational institutions with the goal of increasing the pool of local experts.
Tan said the project might help in curtailing the poor trend of habitat and biodiversity in the Philippine seas, particularly the Sulu Sea. “I think this is an opportune time to have a change in the way we manage biodiversity and the regulations that cover the process,” he said.
The researchers were Mabelle Fortaleza, Ara Lou Madarang, Melanie Jandoc, Jose Amor Año, Argamar Habibuddin, Akkil Injani and Maribelle Hanani. (Mindanao Examiner)
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