The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has partnered with the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Land Registration Authority (LRA), and the provincial government of Bataan to develop a geodatabase for land use management in the Central Luzon province.

The partnership was formalized with the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between DENR Secretary Antonia Loyzaga, LRA Administrator Gerardo Sirios, DAR Regional Director James Ponce, and Bataan Governor Jose Enrique Garcia III.

The MOA signing on the establishment of 1Bataan Base Map or 1BBM was one of the highlights of the launching of Project TRANSFORM—the DENR’s newest integrated resilience and sustainability program—at the Bataan People’s Center in Balanga City last May 9.

1BBM is a land inventory project that aims to create a geodatabase showing land use, classification and allocation in Bataan.

The project seeks to simplify knowledge and data-sharing for policy development and decision-making on the frameworks of the local development investment program.

It also aims to uphold good governance through transparency and facilitation of database sharing by sustaining the integrity and sustainability of the land registration system.

“The inventory of public lands is groundbreaking and will serve as a model of other provinces in terms of natural capital asset accounting system,” Loyzaga said.

“We do hope to work together with the LRA and DAR and our other partners in order to come to an account of what is available by way to manage our resources for the country and the province,” she added.

Under the MOA, the DENR will lead and supervise the implementation of the project, closely coordinating with its National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) and Land Management Bureau (LMB) to consolidate all necessary and relevant data and information needed.

The DENR will also be responsible for conducting ground validation on a regular basis, as well as consistent review and evaluation to assure the validity and reliability of the data and information at hand.

For its part, DAR shall prepare and share data, plans, maps and other available information, particularly as regards to lands covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, which are necessary in the inventory, mapping, plotting and ground validation in Bataan.

LRA will provide necessary technical and administrative support, while the provincial government of Bataan will provide logistical support and assistance in the conduct of ground validation and survey, among others.

Under Loyzaga’s leadership, the DENR has been undertaking several projects utilizing available tools, technologies, science and data, and is closely coordinating with other government agencies and stakeholders.

The DENR is working with the National Economic and Development Authority and the Philippine Statistics Authority in the establishment of natural capital accounting system, and most recently, with the Philippine Space Agency for a geospatial database under the DENR’s Office for Integrated Environmental Science.

These projects, Loyzaga said, will significantly support the development of the DENR’s strategies for a science-based, risk-informed, ethical and equitable stewardship of the environment.