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 The Environment desk was revived in the
middle of 2001 as a response to the continued degradation of the
environment and the need for a civil society response. The Environment
desk, amid many pressing environmental issues, has chosen to attend to
the need for a national land use bill which shall address conflicting
land uses such as the conversion of agricultural land to industrial land
and the use of protected areas as production areas for timber. Together
with the People’s Legislative Agenda Network, a coalition of civil
society groups with various legislative concerns, the desk is now
actively engaged in lobbying for a National Land Use Bill in the 12th
Congress.
Aside from land use, the desk is concerned with issues affecting
fisherfolk.
The desk's first project in this regard is the monitoring of the mandated review
of the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act.
As part of its advocacy efforts, the desk has formed networks among
other environmental groups and coalitions, among these, Miriam-Public
Education and Awareness Campaign for the Environment (PEACE), Concerned
Citizens Against Pollution, People’s Advocacy for Land Use Reform
(People's ALARM), Youth for Sustainable Development Assembly (YSDA) and the
Environment Desk of the Ateneo-based Institute of Social Order. The desk
and these groups are establishing a Legislative
Environmental Advocacy Forum to advocate for environmental issues in the
two Houses of Congress.
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