The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will collaborate with the Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) and the Jollibee Group Foundation (JGF) Inc. to reforest mangrove regions in the communities surrounding the well-known fast food chain.
DENR Secretary Maria Antonia “Toni” Yulo-Loyzaga, JFC President and CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong, and JGF Inc. President Ma. Gisela H. TIongson signed a memorandum of understanding of the initiative.
Shared goals
“The partnership will strengthen collaborations for a decarbonized and regenerative future, promote science-based risk assessment, sustain climate-smart leadership and governance, and scale up community initiatives on mangrove protection and management,” said Loyzaga.
Sec. Loyzaga added that creating empowered community members–whose lives would be improved by the lessons learned under the agreement and who will eventually be able to continue all of these activities themselves–is the shared goal in implementing the agreement.
“Our shared goal in implementing this agreement is to produce empowered community members whose lives will be made better by lessons learned under this MOU and later enable them to sustain all these activities themselves,” Loyzaga added.
JFC and JGF will enlist volunteer staff to assist DENR's Regional Offices in implementing community-based mangrove protection and replanting initiatives, as well as collaborating with DENR on other sustainable projects.
Other environmental initiatives
In addition to the Memorandum of Understanding regarding the replanting of mangroves, JFC, via Mr. Tanmantiong, conveyed their backing to Secretary Loyzaga and the DENR, which is in charge of the organizing committee for the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR).
Over 3,000 foreign delegates are anticipated to attend the event, which will take place in Manila in October 2024, under the theme "Eyes on 2030: Enhancing Ambition in Asia-Pacific to Accelerate Disaster Risk Reduction."
