The Philippines does not necessarily need neither foreign nor domestic investments to protect nature.

For environmentalist and House Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda, Filipinos can conserve the environment even with nature-based solutions and renewable energy.

"We don't even need foreign investments for this because we can do it," the lawmaker said Thursday, Sep. 9, in an online press conference hosted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), "You know, nature based solutions, we don't have to complicate it."

According to Legarda, harvesting rain water and complying with the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) through proper segregation are already a form of nature-based solutions. She added that transitioning into the use of fossil fuel would also mean investing in renewable energy that is cleaner and cheaper.

Passing local ordinances to protect mangroves, which "are present in almost all municipalities," would also help in protecting the people from natural calamities as well as giving them livelihood and food through cash crops, such as rice, coconut and palm oil, and crustaceans that can grow there, she added.

Legarda, who made the suggestions following the launching of the third season her television series entitled "Our Fragile Earth: Protected Areas of the Philippines" which mainly aimed to educate stakeholders and Filipinos on the importance of protected areas as repository of the country's diverse and unique biological heritage, called on the government and the public to protect the environment.

"Our people’s energies must be used to defend our natural heritage. We must all work together to conserve wildlife and nature and mitigate disasters worsened by climate change. Our survival also depends on how well we understand our surroundings," she said.