Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga on Thursday said her department is reinforcing diplomatic ties with Thailand in advancing maritime and ecological management and protection.

Loyzaga said she met with Tull Traisorat, Ambassador of Thailand to the Philippines, to explore areas of cooperation, capacity-building, and knowledge-sharing with regard to sustainability, greening highly urbanized areas, and natural resources conservation.

The DENR chief and the Thai envoy both agreed to push forward with the Strategic Action Programme for the South China Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, a $15-million project of the United Nations Environment Programme that aims to reduce coastal and marine environmental degradation in the region.

Aside from Thailand and the Philippines, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, and Vietnam are also part of the ongoing program. It is the only agreed common vision among the participating countries on targets and actions for reversing environmental degradation trends in the South China Sea.

Other points discussed covered regional environmental projects in the pipeline that address the management of marine protected areas, nature-based solutions to improve local community livelihoods and climate change adaptation, and the promotion of resource efficiency and circularity to reduce plastic pollution.

On top of closer bilateral cooperation on sustainability and environmental conservation, the two Southeast Asians have committed to bolstering trade and investment as well as military ties.