The Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) has inked an agreement with Conservation International Philippines Foundation Inc. (CIPFI) to advance environmental conservation and management through the application of remote sensing technologies.
PhilSA Director General Dr. Joel Joseph Marciano Jr. and CIPFI Country Executive Director Wilson John Barbon sealed the cooperation through a memorandum of agreement (MOA) signing at the PhilSA office in Quezon City on October 27.
The agreement covers the development of a strategic work plan to support CIPFI’s Community, Conservation, and Natural Climate Solution Project: Mantalingahan Landscape Conservation Project in Southern Palawan, which aims to improve forest management of its protected landscape.
Other commitments include the conduct of learning and capacity-building activities related to satellite data processing, programming, and use of aerial mapping drones for forest monitoring and conservation; and sharing of expertise in aspects of sustainable development, environmental mapping, satellite remote sensing, and other space science and technology applications, among others.
CIPFI will also serve as one of the focal partners of PhilSA in implementing the PhilSA Integrated Network for Space-enabled Actions towards Sustainability project in Palawan and other project sites of the CIPFI.
PhilSA will provide technical assistance on the use of satellite and remote sensing data; cater to geospatial and mapping services; provide access to satellite data; and co-undertake research and development, and space data mobilization activities.
The space agency is aligned with its Key Development Areas on hazard management and climate studies, space education and awareness, and space industry and capacity building through private sector involvement.
Witnessing the event were PhilSA Space Information Infrastructure Bureau Director Ariel Blanco, and CIPFI Policy and Governance Adviser Edward Lorenzo.
“Today, we welcome another partner who is a significant contributor to the space ecosystem that we are trying to build in the country. We are honored to collaborate and excited to work with the CIPFI,” Marciano said during the signing ceremony.
CIPFI is a global champion on conservation that has introduced the Highlands to Oceans approach, implementing conservation strategies in landscapes, climate resilience and disaster risk reduction, and coastal and marine fisheries, among others, the PhilSA chief added.
“This partnership is seen to contribute further to advancing our space research and development, space education and awareness, and space industry and capacity building key development areas, particularly through the involvement of private sector and non-government organizations,” Marciano pointed out.
With CIPFI’s potential impact on the country’s conservation efforts, the collaboration highlights a crucial step toward leveraging satellite and aerial remote sensing for environmental conservation.
“We are very interested in this collaboration with [PhilSA] because it would allow us to explore technologies that are based on the work in space to develop efficient tools for ecosystem research, protection, sustainable management,” Barbon said.
‘Some of these tools that we are currently using, and we are trying to develop even more, include our own mapping, assessment, and estimation. If we can use space technology to look at mangrove and seagrass beds, that would really help in designing programs that are relevant in nature and people,” he added.
For his part, Blanco said that PhilSA is looking forward to a fruitful partnership and implementation of this MOA, emphasizing that both PhilSA and CIPFI still have a lot of things to do to protect and manage the country’s environment utilizing space science and technology.
Image credits: PhiSA
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