Insight from Wendell Berry

Composite mountains of  Bulusan Volcano

"I am speaking of the life of a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children; who has undertaken to cherish it and do it no damage, not because he is duty-bound, but because he loves the world and loves his children; whose work serves the earth he lives on and from and with, and is therefore pleasurable and meaningful and unending; whose rewards are not deferred until "retirement," but arrive daily and seasonally out of the details of the life of their place; whose goal is the continuance of the life of the world, which for a while animates and contains them, and which they know they can never compass with their understanding or desire."

Wendell Berry, The Unforeseen Wilderness : An Essay on Kentucky's Red River Gorge (1971), p. 33; what is likely a paraphrase of a portion of this has existed since at least 1997, and has sometimes become misattributed to John James Audubon: A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children.

Lifted from WikiQuotes

Photo by Alma P. Gamil

Mt. Bulusan : 'A Special Place in Philippine Botany'

Palali (sometimes pronounced/spelled as Palale) is a pure white katmon relative that flourishes abundantly in the mountains of Bulusan. http://phytoimages.siu.edu/imgs/pelserpb/r/Dilleniaceae_Dillenia_reifferscheidia_75128.html

Receiving encouraging words from no less than a distinguished scientist was one of the  most rewarding experiences in my personal foray into flora photography in my hometown.

Dr James LaFrankie, author of the book  An Illustrated Guide on Asia's Tropical Trees posted the following in the FB page of the Co's Digital Flora of the Philippines :
"...you are getting a great collection of photographs of all sorts of interesting plants... Mt. Bulusan is a special place in Philippine botany so keep building your collection..."

Dr James LaFrankie attained his PhD in Biology from Harvard University. He is now a professor at the Institute of Biology, College of Science at the University of the Philippines Diliman.

I did not expect that my simple contributions of flora photos from Bulusan will be noticed. My only aim is to at least make some listings with photos of the flora that are found in Bulusan. This encouragement therefore is a signal for me to continue this plant listing activity one species at a time for as long as I can still hold a camera to photograph these immense biodiversity.

Furthermore, this marvelous information that Mt. Bulusan is "a special place in Philippine Botany" also underscores the importance of the preservation of its natural conditions. For me it means that Mt. Bulusan and its adjacent areas must first and foremost be NOT converted into an industrial field such as that of a Geothermal field zone that will alter irrevocably its surrounding ecosystem.

Photo: Alma P. Gamil
BVNP - Bulusan Volcano Natural Park
Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines

Allegory for the Geothermal Question in Mt. Bulusan

A forest in a mountain village in Bulusan.

The Wind, One Brilliant Day

The wind, one brilliant day, called

to my soul with an odor of jasmine.

'In return for the odor of my jasmine,

I'd like all the odor of your roses.'

'I have no roses; all the flowers

in my garden are dead.'

'Well then, I'll take the withered petals

and the yellow leaves and the waters of the fountain.'

the wind left. And I wept. And I said to myself:

'What have you done with the garden that was entrusted to you?'

~ Antonio Machado

Photo by Alma P. Gamil

Santa Barbara, Bulusan, Sorsogon

Philippines

Kamandiis: Philippine endemic still growing wild in Bulusan

My recent visit to Odikin was rewarded with a chance encounter with another endemic Philippine tree, Kamandiis, growing wild along the mountain road.

The small-built tree looks more compact and charming in situ. I will love this growing in my backyard (if I have my own) for this reason alone. The flowers that seem to be always in the bud stage are the color of delicious berries arranged spatially in the twigs in random order. It is the kind of twig that will look excellent in a flower vase arrangement ikebana style.

But the most interesting trait of Kamandiis  in addition to its look is the taste. Not the fruit because at this time it is still in the flowering stage but the leaves and the flowers! I chewed one small leaf just to test if it tasted really sour or tart as related by Oya Choleng, my village guide. The taste is sour alright but not the kind of acidity that the Lubas leaf (another native) offers.

The fruit is used as souring agent for some local cooking recipes and a rich source of natural vitamin C. It gives added tartness to stewed fishes and vegetables in lieu of vinegar according to Oya Choleng, a village native.

Highlighted photo to emphasize the flower buds attached close to the twigs and branches. At this month of the year, the Kamandiis is profused with  minute red flowers.

The ASEAN Tropical Plant database classified Kamandiis as a Philippine endemic. Taxonomic record from the data base is as follows:

Scientific name	Garcinia rubra Merr.
Family name	Clusiaceae

Kamandiis minute flower buds

Reminder: "If forests were not disturbed, this would have been the safest place to permanently keep these valuable plant resources." ~ Roberto E. Coronel, foremost fruit scientist of Asia

Photos by Alma P. Gamil
Santa Barbara (Odikin), Bulusan, Sorsogon

To Mount Bulusan: Geothermal Lessons from Mount Kanlaon

"The Save Mount Kanlaon Coalition and some Negros environmentalists share the same sentiment as the Bulusan people and local government‟s. The geothermal project of the National

Negros Geothermal Power Plant (NNGPP) is accounted for the cutting down of thousands of trees, direction drilling underground, and displacement of the wild flora and fauna with the contamination of the waterways." (source: www. academia.edu paper by Cris Sarmiento)

Avatar-like rainforest of Mount Bulusan.

A reference to this point is the Statement jointly released by Save Mount Kanlaon Coalition and the New Environment Watch, July 22, 2011 that reads:

"Despite its numerous claims and reassurances, supposedly backed up by extensive scientific studies and technical findings through the last 17 years, the geothermal project has dismally failed to produce EDC’s original target of 80 MW. This was drastically reduced to 49 MW in 2007, and was even further reduced to 40 MW when the EDC insisted to enter the primary forest, which was successfully mislabeled and renamed as the “buffer zone” with the passing of the Mt. Kanlaon Law.

The EDC project has only succeeded to degrade a wide swath of Mt. Kanlaon, alter its boundaries, cut down thousands of old forest trees, destroy critical wildlife habitat, defy environmental laws, and eventually, wasted billions of pesos worth of public funds. Worse, EDC’s encroachment into the 169 hectare “buffer zone” of Mt. Kanlaon is patently illegal as the project’s 1995 ECC (Environmental Compliance Certificate) is not for the 169 hectares of primary forest but for areas described in the 1995 Environmental Impact Statement as 50% grassland and open areas, 32% cropland, and 18% secondary forest. (Note: Under Presidential Decree (PD) No. 1586 establishing the Environmental Impact Statement System and Presidential Proclamation No. 2146 defining the scope of the system, Environmentally critical projects (ECPs) located in environmentally critical areas (ECAs) like a primary forest require an Environmental Impact Assessment to give said areas the highest protection especially from resource extractive activities.)

EDC has made a name for itself and for the Lopezes, both nationally and internationally, for its Green Energy projects and its partnership with the World Wildlife Fund and the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources, but contrary to this repution, EDC ‘s maintaining of its geothermal wells inside a “buffer zone” that is actually 169 hectares of primary forest with high biodiversity only perpetuates the continued rape of Mt. Kanlaon and of democracy itself.

In view of all these, we demand that EDC remove all of its civil works from the “buffer zone,” rehabilitate the area, and account or pay for the destruction perpetrated in Mt. Kanlaon and its environs. EDC should also turn-over the 169 hectare “buffer zone” to the MKNP PAMB, in compliance with Section 5, RA 9154, which states: “…areas within the buffer zone which shall not be used directly for the development and utilization of geothermal energy shall remain under the control and jurisdiction of the PAMB.”

We further call on our governor and the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to terminate the 2008 Memorandum of Agreement with EDC and to require EDC to immediately discontinue its operations in the “buffer zone.” We also call on our Congressmen with the strong support of our governor and Provincial Sanggunian, to amend RA 9154 so that the 169 hectare “buffer zone” is re-established as part of the protected area of the Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park, a correct buffer zone established outside of its perimeter, and the EDC is removed as a permanent member of the MKNP PAMB and PAMB Executive Committee."

Mount Bulusan rainforest.

Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines

Pili: Bicol's Heritage Flora

"If forests were not disturbed, this would

have been the safest place to permanently

keep these valuable plant resources."

                    -Roberto E. Coronel, foremost fruit scientist of Asia                
                 

A volunteer Pili tree standing tall along with coconut trees in a farm located in the fringes of Mount Bulusan.

A very strong argument on why the rainforest of Bulusan must be preserved is the definitive scientific paper on Pili authored by Roberto E. Coronel. This study (1996) was made possible by the Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Gatersleben/International Plant Genetic Resources Institute,Rome, Italy. The study aims to promote the conservation and use of Pili.

Buttressed trunks of Pili trees are most adapted to typhoons. Pili is a resilient plant antedating climate change adaptation.

The stony shell of  the Pili  nut is not a problem in Bulusan. The 'paratilad' or manual de-shellers can retrieve the kernels within seconds by using only a simple bolo.

Part of the study reads:

"Origin and geographic distribution:

The pili is indigenous to the Philippines (Merrill 1912, 1923; Wester 1921; Brown 1954; Li 1970). The crop’s centre of genetic diversity is the Bicol region, possibly in the virgin rainforests surrounding Mt. Bulusan, in the Province of Sorsogon. In the forests of this province, very old pili nut trees measuring more than 50 m in height can still be found today." 

The pulp of the ripe pili  fruits are also source of food  and oil. But the kernels are the most prized.

The planned conversion of the surroundings of Mount Bulusan into a Geothermal Field zone will alter irrevocably the natural habitat chosen by the Pili in its course of evolution that probably took million of years to complete. The species' choice of place is a cocktail mix of many variables : volcanic heat, heavy dose of rainfall, tropical Pacific Ocean, dense rainforest and just being in the right geographical location preferred by the pili.

Pili resin is internationally known as Manila elemi, ingredient for perfumes and pharmaceuticals and  recently for beauty products.

Pili was aptly described  as growing "at the heart of the Pacific Ocean, the island of Luzon..." by an international beauty product ad. The product utilizes the manila elemi, the resin from the pili tree as an ingredient. It highlighted the place of origin of the natural plant resource--the Philippines.

This and many others international recognitions underscore the importance of the Pili as an indigenous plant. And thus, Mount Bulusan being the keeper of the Pili's original genetic pool needs utmost vigilance from the continued threat of 'industrial development' to guarantee that the Pili of the ovatum kind will continue to flourish in perpetuity.

The eminent scientist, Doctor Roberto E. Coronel articulated the following in one of his seminar lectures:

Biodiverslty Conservation Systems

 In Situ Conservation

- All fruits and nuts have evolved as plant

species in the forests.

-If  forests were not disturbed, this would
have been the safest place to permanently
keep these valuable plant resources.

Photos by Alma P. Gamil
Bulusan, Sorsogon

Acoustic Ecology: The Sound of the Forest

There is a space and time in the zone of the twilight when the last rays of the sun are slowly engulfed by the crawling darkness in the forest when the sound is most intense. It is as if you can feel the collective 'raging against the dying of the light'. It is the sound of the collective sounds of insects from cicada to crickets, bats and some birds species and maybe some nocturnal creatures welcoming the dark. This magical hour is familiar in the rainforest of Mount Bulusan. It is referred to as the 'dusk chorus' in acoustic ecology.

Acoustic ecology is a branch of study for this seemingly unknown aspect of the forest. It is an  area that deals with sound as it relates to the lives of the wildlife living on it:

One specific study is this: insects.oeb.harvard.edu/farrell_lab/undegrads/bseah/lit_review.pdf

It underscores the function of sound as stated at the start of the introduction:

Animals communicate by producing and receiving signals of various kinds, one of them
being sound. A wide variety of animals produce sounds – birds, mammals, amphibians,
arthropods, and even fish. These calls serve various functions, which are mostly
intraspecific: (1) advertisement calls – for males to attract females over long distances,
aids in localization, also involved sometimes in male-male aggression and competition,
(2) aggressive signals – specifically for aggression between competing advertisers, (3)
release calls – especially among anurans, produced by unresponsive individuals when
they are clasped by a male for mating, (4) courtship calls – sometimes also produced by

females, act over a shorter range, produced just prior to mating, (5) distress calls – also
called handling calls, when grasped by predators. (cf. Gerhardt and Huber p.12)


Animals produce acoustic signals for various purposes. Their calls are presumably subject to natural selection. Acoustic ecology is the study of the selective pressures that act upon the calls that animals make.

Thus, to my mind, to alter the acoustic ecology of a pristine area like Mount Bulusan rainforest with the planned introduction of industrial activities of a Geothermal power plant (with noise levels from their industrial operations reaching higher than the decibel range of urban noises) is tantamount to environmental invasion worse than introducing an invasive species of flora and fauna. Its impact to the wildlife residents of the forest is disastrous considering that almost all of these creatures are dependent on sounds for their survival from mating calls to the caring of their youngs.

Note:
For actual sounds of a South East Asian forest in the above mentioned study, this link:  insects.oeb.harvard.edu/farrell_lab/endergrads/bseah_aepf_sounds.html provides a sound gallery (in mp3 format) ranging from sounds of insects such as cicadas and mammals such as bats. The time of the sound recordings differs to get a feel of the actual sound settings. The dawn and dusk chorus for example when the intensity of the sound  of the forest is most pronounced is noted by the study.


Photographs by Alma P. Gamil
Bulusan Volcano Natural Park (BVNP), Bulusan, Sorsogon, Philippines