EXHIBIT. The photo documentation of the Negros Occidental Coastal Wetlands Conservation Area, which garnered the province the 2021 Galing Pook Award through the program titled “Network of Alliances for Coastal Wetlands Conservation”, can be viewed on the second floor of a mall in Bacolod until June 15, 2022. The exhibit is part of the 30th Provincial Environment Month celebration. (Photo courtesy of PEMO Negros Occidental)
BACOLOD CITY – Photographs of the award-winning Negros Occidental Coastal Wetlands Conservation Area (NOCWCA) shot by a group of local enthusiasts are featured in an exhibit as part of the 30th Provincial Environment Month celebration this June.
On Thursday, the photo display of the NOCWCA, which garnered the province the 2021 Galing Pook Award through the program titled, “Network of Alliances for Coastal Wetlands Conservation”, was held on the second floor of SM City Bacolod North Wing and will run until June 15.
From June 16 to 24, the exhibit can be viewed at the mall’s bridge area.
Head of the Provincial Environment Management Office (PEMO), Julie Ann Bedrio, said the activities during the month-long event aim to increase environmental awareness and highlight the role of Negrenses as stewards in the conservation, protection, and restoration of the environment.
The photo documentation, themed “Connecting People and Wetlands Ecosystems Services”, is being presented through the collaboration among the Camera Club of Negros, Provincial Administrator’s Office, and PEMO.
It shows the sights across the wetlands located in southern Negros, which has been declared the seventh Ramsar site (wetland of international importance) in the Philippines on Oct. 20, 2016, and later, the fourth East Asian Australasian Flyway Site.
The Negros Occidental Coastal Wetlands Area Management Alliance (NOCWAMA) manages the NOCWCA that spans a contiguous wetlands area with a coastline of 109.52 km. across 10 local government units.
About 80 bird species were recorded in the NOCWCA, including the globally endangered Great knot, Far Eastern curlew, and Nordmann’s greenshank, as well as threatened species, such as the Irrawaddy dolphin and three species of marine turtles, the critically endangered Hawksbill turtle, and the endangered Green turtle and Olive ridley turtle.
The Provincial Environment Month is being observed under Provincial Ordinance 152, series of 1998.
In its 30th year, the provincial government has adopted the United Nations Environment Program World Environment Day 2022 theme, “Only One Earth”, which highlights the need to live sustainably in harmony with nature by bringing transformative changes – through policies and our choices – towards cleaner, greener lifestyles. (PNA)
