QUEZON CITY, PIA – With the state weather bureau announcing that the country is now experiencing a mild case of El Niño, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has appealed for public support and cooperation in countering the adverse effects this phenomenon, mainly water shortages and forest fires.
“Mild this El Niño may be compared to the past, its impacts will no less significant for everyone,” the DENR Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje explained.
He said people should conserve water even more as the water levels of major dams are expected to recede due to El Niño.
“It is urgent that we continue conserving water not only to ensure continued water supply for our own domestic use, but as a way of helping out much affected sectors like agriculture, aquaculture, energy and the environment, which in turn may affect us,” he said.
The public, he said, should be more conscious of their water consumption in day-to-day activities such as bathing, tooth brushing and hand washing.
“Use recycled laundry water for gardening, flushing the toilet, and washing your car and floor,” Paje added.
As prolonged dry spell increases risk of forest fire, he asked upland residents and nature trekkers to exercise extreme caution when performing activities with the potential for igniting fires.
Paje proposed that those communities and the management boards of protected areas to adopt local ordinances or policies against smoking open burning and bringing of flammable materials in forested areas.
He said forest fires affect the livelihood of upland communities, endanger the country’s wildlife and their habitat, and are set back to government’s reforestation efforts.
El Niño phenomenon is an abnormal weather pattern caused by the warming of the Pacific Ocean, affecting global climate and causing unusual droughts and floods. It occurs every two to seven years, with the Philippines experiencing it last between mid-2009 and mid-2010. (DENR)