The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) through the support from the Global Environment Facility and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and in partnership with Conservation International, initiated the SMARTSeas PH Project in Verde Island Passage (VIP) in 2016, one of the project’s five sites established to strengthen the protection, conservation, and management of marine biodiversity in the area. SMARTSeas is working with the people’s organizations in Batangas to train VIP citizens on how to upcycle plastics and other rich resources of the area.