The campaign for the Year of the Protected Areas (YoPA) commences with the signing of the Joint Declaration to support the promotion and conservation of the country’s national parks by (seated, from left to right) Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Acting Secretary Jim O. Sampulna, Department of Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, and Department of the Interior and Local Development Secretary Eduardo M. Año during the campaign launch on May 23 in Mandaluyong City. The YoPA coincides with the 90th anniversary of the establishment of protected areas in the country by virtue of Republic Act 3915 of 1932 or An Act providing for the establishment of national parks, declaring such parks as game refuges, and for other purposes. The DENR has proposed a Presidential Proclamation to declare 2022 as the National Year of the Protected Areas and June of each year as the Month of the Protected Areas. The event was organized by the Biodiversity Finance Project (BIOFIN) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the Philippines. ###
