Hollywood and local stars have joined the campaign to protect peatlands which are crucial to fight climate change.

"Peatlands are crucial to fight climate change. They are large, often forested swamps that can be found all over the world. They matter for the planet because they actually store twice as much carbon as all the world's forest together while covering less than three percent of the land surface," said Hollywood star Alec Baldwin in a video clip presented during the joint Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and digital services provider PLDT Inc. (PLDT) and its wireless unit Smart Communications Inc. (Smart) Peatland Conservation virtual press conference this morning, Nov. 6.

Baldwin said: "But peatlands are being degraded and lost at a dramatic pace to the logging, drainage, agriculture and burning. And when they are destroyed they release a massive amount of greenhouse gases and the unique often endangered plants and animals that they housed are lost as well."

"Peatlands also matter for people because smoke release from peatlands fires is toxic and has the worst impact on the most vulnerable groups - our children and the elderly. We must protect peatlands. Because peatlands matter," Baldwin added.

Filipino celebrities Derek Ramsay and Pops Fernandez also joined the bandwagon in preserving peatlands. Ramsay and Fernandez, who hosted the event, said that they are willing to learn more about the project and eventually promote peatland conservation.

The DENR — through its Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) — has partnered with digital services provider PLDT Inc. (PLDT) and its wireless unit Smart Communications Inc. (Smart) to help raise awareness on peatlands in the Caraga region.

DENR Secretary Roy A. Cimatu said peatlands are vital for providing safe drinking water, assisting in preserving global biodiversity, and helping reduce flood risks.

“Peatlands are dubbed ‘one of the most valuable ecosystems on Earth’ according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature or IUCN because apart from all these uses, they also help mitigate climate change and global warming,” Cimatu said.

Peatlands are a type of wetlands whose peat soils consist of carbon-rich dead and decaying plant matter. If kept wet, peatlands can store twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests combined. However, its crucial role in mitigating climate change, as well as the huge costs that arise when these natural carbon sinks are damaged, remains largely overlooked.

The DENR and PLDT-Smart will present the conservation program on peatlands in a web activity that will be held on November 6, 2020 to kick off the Climate Change Consciousness Week in the latter part of the month. Peatlands to be featured in the conservation program will include the Caimpugan Peatland in the Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary (AMWS).

Located in Agusan del Sur, the Caimpugan Peatland holds the only recorded remaining intact peat swamp forest—the largest of its kind—in the Philippines.

PLDT Chairman and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan will be the guest of honor for the virtual event.

Ramsar Convention Secretary General Martha Rojas-Urrego will also have a special participation because the AMWS is designated as a Wetland of International Importance by the said inter-governmental treaty on wetlands.

AMWS is also recognized as a Heritage Park by the ASEAN and legislated as a National Park by the Philippine government.

In July 2020, the DENR thru Assistant Secretary for Climate Change and concurrent Director of BMB Ricardo Calderon and DENR-Caraga Regional Executive Director Hadja Didaw Piang-Brahim signed a memorandum of agreement with PLDT Group Chief Sustainability Officer Chaye Cabal-Revilla, who is also the concurrent PLDT SVP & Group Controller and Smart Chief Finance Officer.

The three-year extendable project to be implemented by PLDT-Smart through its Chief Sustainability Office until 2023 aims to strengthen and support the AMWS-Protected Area Management Office and other concerned DENR offices in implementing peatland conservation and management strategies under the AMWS Management Plan.