PhilSA inks deals to boost protection of Palawan and Tubbataha using space data

Several agreements were signed to boost environmental protection efforts.

Courtesy: PhilSA

Protecting the environment through technology

The Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) has partnered with relevant officials to leverage Space Science, Technology, and Applications (SSTA) to better protect Palawan and Tubbataha.

In a statement, the agency said it partnered with the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) and the Tubbataha Management Office (TMO) to enhance the use of SSTA in creating maps to advance environmental protection, sustainable development, and evidence-based policymaking in Palawan.

Under the MOA with PCSD, PhilSA will generate land use, land cover (LULC), and benthic (marine habitat) maps free of charge, which are useful in monitoring environmental health and assessing damage when necessary. On its part, PCSD will help validate the maps generated by PhilSA using data on the ground.

The partnership builds upon the successful conduct of the PhilSA Integrated Network for Space-Enabled Actions (PINAS) Workshop in Palawan in 2022, which laid the groundwork for strengthened cooperation in the region.

PhilSA and the Tubbataha Management Office also formalized their collaboration to conduct benthic/marine habitat and bathymetry mapping to help in the science-based management in the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a cradle for marine biodiversity.

The agreements include capacity-building efforts to enable PCSD and TMO personnel to effectively utilize space-borne data for environmental habitat monitoring and management beyond the duration of the partnership.

PhilSA also conducted PINAS Symposiums at Western Philippines University (WPU) and Palawan State University (PSU), and field surveys in Balabac, Palawan to collect ground-truth or validation data for mapping initiatives.

The data gathered will create more accurate seagrass, coral, forest, and crop maps, to support agriculture and sustainable development planning.

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