News

As a fast-growing infrastructure developer and operator with a strong ESG commitment and sustainability focus, Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. (Prime Infra) is leading private sector initiatives that contribute to the government’s forest management being the only Filipino-owned company with a large-scale reforestation project.

Early this year, Prime Infra, through its subsidiary WawaJVCo Inc., entered into a milestone partnership with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for the reforestation of a 1,800-hectare area within the Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape (UMRBPL).

At the 160th Philippine Forestry Service Anniversary last June 26, DENR recognized its three key private sector partners in forest management, among them Prime Infra. The other two are Marubeni Corporation and Shell. The event was graced by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and led by DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga.

Prime Infra President and CEO Guillaume Lucci said the reforestation project is an answer to Marcos’ call on government agencies and the private sector to work together in “protecting, preserving, and managing our limited resources.”

Under the MOU, the DENR and WawaJVCo will “design, develop, and establish Afforestation, Reforestation, and Revegetation programs” within the UMRBPL. It integrates water security, watershed protection, forest carbon and biodiversity management, and reflects the commitment of both parties to develop and implement science-based strategies in support of sustainable development.

As part of the program’s initial implementation, WawaJVCo has partnered with four people’s organizations, of which three are indigenous peoples (IPs) organizations, to do seedling production, nursery operations, site preparation, and forest establishment, protection and maintenance activities.

According to Lucci, the milestone partnership will also “serve as a blueprint for a wider implementation of Prime Infra’s nature-based solution program to create value” in its two other key sectors – energy and waste management.

“We are grateful to work with DENR on this large-scale reforestation project. It is through such opportunities that the Prime Infra Group is able to not only contribute to the infrastructure goals of the government but to its decarbonization objectives as well,” said Lucci