“From Ridge to Reef” State of Nature Assessment (SONA) 2023

September 13, 2023

No Comments

SONA 2023 will be a 1 1/2-day affair in General Santos City in Mindanao. Our main partner will be Notre Dame of Dadiangas in General Santos City. Our target audience will be students but other sectors – government, business, Church, NGOs, will be invited too. Around 200-300 participants make up our SONA audience. Funds will be raised from funding agencies as well as from sponsors and advertisers.

The major environmental issues identified to be tackled are those related to mining, Sarangani Bay, watersheds, and landfills.

With the pandemic over, the government is looking to mining as a main driver of the economy; sadly, Congress has not passed the bills which would have reformed the mining industry to be more advantageous to the nation. Mining in Tampakan will be a main target because it is one of the biggest gold-copper mine in the world and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of South Cotabato had reversed the past moratorium on open pit mining.

Sarangani Bay is another main concern as its biodiversity is threatened by pollution. Watersheds in the area are denuded threatening water supply and other life-support systems. These seascape and landscape issues are common throughout the Philippines since our country is islandic and mountainous. What are the regional and national situation?

Landfills are seen as the panacea to solve solid waste pollution. Unfortunately, the concept has been misunderstood and implementation of the Solid Waste Management Act leaves much to be desired. SONA 2023 will examine the local and national scene.

Discussions on these issues will be on Day 1.

Day 2 will be devoted to strategies to address environmental issues in general and climate change specifically. It will start with an interactive session with the youth followed by presentations on Renewable Energy adaptation with focus on the Mt. Apo geothermal power plant, the Laudato Si program for schools and Ako ang Bukas, a whole-of-nation approach to address climate change.

SONA 2023 full coverage: