Trees for Peace
Let's Save the Tropical Rainforest*
- Endangered Ecosystem
in 15 Parts
Part 1
The Tropical Rainforest's Last Stand
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature - School on Blog (avrotor.blogspot.com)
Also open Naturalism -the Eighth Sense
Bohol landscape from the air.
Farming in Chocolate Hills, Bohol.
The Tropical Rainforest could be the biblical Lost Paradise immortalized in the masterpieces of John Milton.
It was after dawn and smoke from nearby homesteads rose with the mountain mist in Carmen, between Davao City and Tagum, when I spotted a company of loggers carrying a wooden cage looking very much like an oversized onion crate. To my curiosity I looked into the cage and found a pair of flying lemurs locally called kaguiang in Bisaya or ninmal in Samal Moro, clinging upside down and cringing from the first light of morning.
Cynocephalus volans Linneaus, as the animal is scientifically called, is one of the rare mammals that can fly, an adaptation they share with the versatile bats. Unlike bats however, the flying lemur can only glide from tree to tree, a pair of thin expandable flap of skin and fur connecting the whole length of its front and hind legs serves as parachute and glider combined.
It was a pathetic sight. The pair was apparently captured when their natural habitat - tall trees that made the original forest were cut down for lumber, and the area subsequently converted into farmland in a most destructive system called swiden or kaingin farming.
Loss of Natural Habitat Results in Loss of Species
Scientists warn us that the loss of natural habitats will result in the disappearance of organisms. This is true to the flying lemurs – and this is true to thousands of different inhabitants in the tropical rainforest, the richest biome on earth.
It is estimated that more than half the species of plants, animals and protists live in the tropical rainforests. According to a Time report, there are as many as 425 kinds of living plants that are naturally occupying a hectare of tropical rainforest in the Amazon. Similarly our own rainforest is as rich because the Philippine lies on the same tropical rainforest belt together with Indonesia and Malaysia in Southeast Asia. There are 3,500 species of indigenous trees in our rainforest.
Imagine a single tree as natural abode of ferns, orchids, insects, fungi, lichens, transient organisms - birds, monkeys, frogs, reptiles, insects and a multitude more that escape detection by our senses. The tropical rainforest must be God’s chosen natural bank of biodiversity. The “Lost Paradise” that the Genesis describes and literary giant John Milton classically wrote – Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained – is undoubtedly one that resembles a tropical rainforest.
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* The tropical rainforest is a hot, moist biome where it rains all year long. It is known for its dense canopies of vegetation that form three different layers. The top layer or canopy contains giant trees that grow to heights of 75 m (about 250 ft) or more. Thick, woody vines are also found in the canopy. Ground plants are annual and perennial species responding mainly on filtered sunlight and sustained by organically rich thin layers of soil. Towering trees called emergents now and then pierce through the canopy like living towers. Being multi-storied, living things - plants, animals and protists - have their own niches or territories, nonetheless they are all interrelated through the principles of food chain, food web, and food pyramid, which as a whole define the biodiversity of the ecosystem.
* The tropical rainforest is a hot, moist biome where it rains all year long. It is known for its dense canopies of vegetation that form three different layers. The top layer or canopy contains giant trees that grow to heights of 75 m (about 250 ft) or more. Thick, woody vines are also found in the canopy. Ground plants are annual and perennial species responding mainly on filtered sunlight and sustained by organically rich thin layers of soil. Towering trees called emergents now and then pierce through the canopy like living towers. Being multi-storied, living things - plants, animals and protists - have their own niches or territories, nonetheless they are all interrelated through the principles of food chain, food web, and food pyramid, which as a whole define the biodiversity of the ecosystem.
Rainforest serves as watershed, keeps river full and clean,
creates a cool mini climate in the area, Bohol.
Let us look at the TRF profile like slicing a multi-layered cake and studying its profile. It is made up of storeys similar to a high-rise building. The “roof” or canopy is what we see as forest cover. Here and there are very tall trees called emergents jotting through the monotonous canopy like living towers.
From the air, the view of a tropical forest is one huge and continuous green blanket that catch the energy of the sun and through photosynthesis converts it into organic materials beginning with simple sugar to the most complex compounds from which useful materials are derived - wood, rubber, resin, and drugs, etc. These products are needed to sustain the life of countless organisms and the stability of the ecosystem itself.
Reforestation rebuilds and increases stand of trees, Bohol
From the forest floor, one can see only a little part of the sky, with the rays of the sun filtering through. But now and then, the trees, depending on the species, season and other environmental conditions, shed off their leaves, which can be compared to the molting of animals as they grow. Entire crowns of leaves fall and litter the forest floor. Transformation into humus continuously takes place with the aid of insects, bacteria, fungi, earthworms and the like. And this is very important because humus fertilizes the soil and conserves water acting as sponge and blanket.
This is one of the wonders of nature. Trees in a tropical rainforest have this special characteristic. They are not only self-fertilizing; they are soil builders. Through time, with the deciduous cycle repeated without end, the forest floor – even how thin the soil is, or how solid the underlying rock is – builds up, layer after layer, and it is this process that enables many organisms in the forest obtain their nutrition in order to grow.
Deciduousness allows sunlight to pour over the previously shaded plants occupying the various layers or storeys, which serve as specific habitats or niches. Occupying the lowest part of the forest, which is equivalent to the ground floor of a building, are mostly annuals, ferns and bryophytes. Next are the shrubs which occupy the lobby and second floor, followed by undergrowth trees that reach a height equivalent to the third and fourth floor, lianas and epiphytes which may reach as high as the eighth floor. It is not surprising to find emergent trees reaching up the 200 feet.
How big can a tree grow and for how long? Take the case of the Redwoods or Sequoia found growing in southern California and China. I saw a tree of this kind in southern Taiwan, recently killed by lightning. The tallest redwood, which is still growing today, is 267.4 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 40.3 feet. It is estimated to be 3,500 years old.
The analogy of the layers of a rainforest with a ten- or twelve-storey building gives us in imagination of the orderliness of nature in keeping the rich biodiversity of the ecosystem.
The true forest primeval – the rain forest – stands along the equator now reduced into a sanctuary of “living fossils” of plants and animals that once constituted the eternal green cover of the earth.
The canopy at one time or another allows the sky to meet the residents of the forest from the ground floor to the upper storeys - something that if you stand among the trees during this transformation you will find a kind of communion that, while it can be explained biologically, fills the spirit with the wonders and mysteries of nature.
The tropical rainforest is a natural menagerie where peace, music, colors, patterns, art and skill are not so well known to modern man. The high-perched artists like squirrels and monkeys are better acrobats by birth and practice than any known human acrobats. Many primates howl with electrifying, ear splitting and blood-chilling sound that breadth the land. Above plummet the masters of the sky – the Philippine eagle and hawks, spotting their preys which may be several kilometers away, or hundreds of meters below – something which our modern spotting scopes can not yet achieve with readiness and precision.
Inside their tunnels the termite workers tap their way and chop the wood for their colony and themselves. Man has yet to learn more about the social structure of this insect.
Part 3
Mass Species Extinction through Deforestation
Dr Abe V Rotor
Orangutan in captivity, Avilon Zoo, Rizal
Wild Pigeon (bato bato), Tikob Lake, Quezon
Parakeet, Parks and Wildlife Nature Center, QC
Philippine Hawk, Parks and Wildlife Nature Center, QC
Ecological genocide. There is possibly no other term that can appropriately picture the magnitude of destruction by deforestation. The cutting down a whole forest evidently eliminates all inhabitants. While a number of them could escape and find shelter somewhere, most of the residents being habitat-specific, cannot survive without or outside their original abode or beyond the boundaries of their niches.
This is understandable. As an ecosystem, the forest is a product of evolution. Organisms evolve with their natural habitat, acquiring traits in the process. Nature is patient so to speak, to give chance for organisms to acquire the Darwinian fitness, otherwise they will perish. Many have gained dominance in terms of number. Others simply are persistent like the dragonfly that is older than the dinosaur and has remained a popular forest resident. Acquisition of protective or aggressive mimicry is a product of long years of evolution that shows that it is effective adaptation. A classical example is the relationship of fig trees with wasps that pollinate their flowers. Not even water or wind or man can effectively do it. More specific than this is the fact that each kind of fig has a particular wasp pollinator that carries out the job. And each kind of fig has a specific fruiting season, providing continuous supply of food to many animals, such as monkeys and ground fowls.
Premised by this knowledge, we now begin to realize that reforestation is not and will never be able to replace the original forest. Reforestation efforts are merely providing a temporary vegetative cover that cannot be compared with the structure of the original forest, much less to compare it with the latter’s productive efficiency and biodiversity. Here are other premises to support this contention.
1. Nature, and not man, determines the species composition and combination in a forest. We may be referring to a woodland - not a forest - when we see Gmelina, Ipil-ipil and Teak plantations. These are intended to produce commercial wood or pulpwood for paper.
2. The landscape and the forest developed together - geographically, geologically, and biologically. Streams and springs are full because trees store rainwater in the ground; the roots and natural vegetative cover check erosion and siltation. Thus the death of a forest means also the death of streams, drying of river, silting of lakes and ponds into swamp, meandering of rivers, etching of gullies on hills and mountainsides, to mention but a few consequences.
3. Abandoned deforested areas continue to lose not only soil fertility; they lose the entire soil structure, beginning with the most fertile topsoil to the clay foundation next to bedrock. In short, through erosion the foothold built for thousands of years could be lost permanently. We can only surmise what kinds of plant grow in such situation. It is not surprising to see wasteland of talahib and cogon grass on former forestlands.
4. The forest creates a mini-climate. Forest attracts clouds. Transpiration enhances precipitation so that rain occurs anytime of the day, hence the name rainforest. All this can be permanently lost with the destruction of the forest. This explains why desertification (formation of desert) starts at deforested areas. Southern Cebu, in spite of its proximity to sea, is a typical example where one can observe the pathetic gnawing process. This can be observed also on the Sierra Madre starting in Bulacan, and on extensive areas along the narrow strip of the Ilocos region.
This is understandable. As an ecosystem, the forest is a product of evolution. Organisms evolve with their natural habitat, acquiring traits in the process. Nature is patient so to speak, to give chance for organisms to acquire the Darwinian fitness, otherwise they will perish. Many have gained dominance in terms of number. Others simply are persistent like the dragonfly that is older than the dinosaur and has remained a popular forest resident. Acquisition of protective or aggressive mimicry is a product of long years of evolution that shows that it is effective adaptation. A classical example is the relationship of fig trees with wasps that pollinate their flowers. Not even water or wind or man can effectively do it. More specific than this is the fact that each kind of fig has a particular wasp pollinator that carries out the job. And each kind of fig has a specific fruiting season, providing continuous supply of food to many animals, such as monkeys and ground fowls.
Premised by this knowledge, we now begin to realize that reforestation is not and will never be able to replace the original forest. Reforestation efforts are merely providing a temporary vegetative cover that cannot be compared with the structure of the original forest, much less to compare it with the latter’s productive efficiency and biodiversity. Here are other premises to support this contention.
1. Nature, and not man, determines the species composition and combination in a forest. We may be referring to a woodland - not a forest - when we see Gmelina, Ipil-ipil and Teak plantations. These are intended to produce commercial wood or pulpwood for paper.
2. The landscape and the forest developed together - geographically, geologically, and biologically. Streams and springs are full because trees store rainwater in the ground; the roots and natural vegetative cover check erosion and siltation. Thus the death of a forest means also the death of streams, drying of river, silting of lakes and ponds into swamp, meandering of rivers, etching of gullies on hills and mountainsides, to mention but a few consequences.
3. Abandoned deforested areas continue to lose not only soil fertility; they lose the entire soil structure, beginning with the most fertile topsoil to the clay foundation next to bedrock. In short, through erosion the foothold built for thousands of years could be lost permanently. We can only surmise what kinds of plant grow in such situation. It is not surprising to see wasteland of talahib and cogon grass on former forestlands.
4. The forest creates a mini-climate. Forest attracts clouds. Transpiration enhances precipitation so that rain occurs anytime of the day, hence the name rainforest. All this can be permanently lost with the destruction of the forest. This explains why desertification (formation of desert) starts at deforested areas. Southern Cebu, in spite of its proximity to sea, is a typical example where one can observe the pathetic gnawing process. This can be observed also on the Sierra Madre starting in Bulacan, and on extensive areas along the narrow strip of the Ilocos region.
Part 4
A Critique on the Lost Eden
Dr Abe V Rotor
Light in the Woods, acrylic, AVR 1994
Forest Fire, Acrylic, AVR 1995
A long list of vanished and vanishing species - even those that have not been discovered and named – haunts the human species, Homo sapiens, the most intelligent of all creatures. If this is not an evidence of the original sin which he continues to commit since his early ancestors were driven from Paradise, then we are merely being led to believe in something bound by deep faith, and in something supernatural.
Every time we destroy a forest, a coral reef, or grassland, we are repeating the fault of our ancestors. The biblical story is fiction if we fail to grasp its essence. True, exile comes in many ways. But definitely, if an ecosystem is destroyed, if it loses its capacity to provide the basic needs of its inhabitants, starvation, death, and other forms of deprivation follow. Does this not trigger exile – or exodus, which is the ultimate recourse for survival?
Here is a poem I wrote upon reaching Tagum. It is about the destruction of a forest I related in the first part of this article.
Every time we destroy a forest, a coral reef, or grassland, we are repeating the fault of our ancestors. The biblical story is fiction if we fail to grasp its essence. True, exile comes in many ways. But definitely, if an ecosystem is destroyed, if it loses its capacity to provide the basic needs of its inhabitants, starvation, death, and other forms of deprivation follow. Does this not trigger exile – or exodus, which is the ultimate recourse for survival?
Here is a poem I wrote upon reaching Tagum. It is about the destruction of a forest I related in the first part of this article.
Lost ForestStaccato of chirping meets the breeze and sunrise,Waking the butterflies, unveiled by the rising mist;Rush the stream where fish play with the sunbeamAnd the rainforest opens, a stage no one could miss,With every creature in a role to play without cease.
John Milton wrote his masterpiece of Paradise,While Beethoven composed sonata with ecstasy,Jean Fabre and Edwin Teale with lens in handDiscovered a world Jules Verne didn’t see,But found Aldo Leopold’s ecosystem unity.
For how long to satiate man’s greed can nature sustain?It was not long time ago since progress became a game,Taking the streets, marching uphill to the mountain,Where giant machines roar, ugly men at the helm -Folly, ignorance and greed are one and same.
In 1960 Philippine Dipterocarp Forests occupied almost 14 million hectares. What is left today is only three and one-half million hectares. The average rate of decline is over 2 percent annually. What is more alarming is the decline in the volume of trees in the forest which around 6 percent in the last 30 years. All over the world, annual deforestation represents an area as large as Luxemburg. This means every tick of the clock is a hectare of rainforest permanently erased from the globe.
Part 5
Hedgerow:
Where Ecology and Agriculture Merge
Rural Iloilo from the air. Photo by AVR
Boundary and waterway hedgerows
Contour hedgerows
Hedgerows on field boundaries are popular in Europe and countries where the original forest cover has been removed. Hedgerows may develop into ecosystems through the years, in fact centuries. Here, species composition - plants and animals - has reached homeostasis (dynamic balance). In advance cases, hedgerows have become natural forests.
Hedgerows - - serve as wildlife sanctuary
- serve as windbreak and shade
- prototype agro-forest and orchard
- source of wood and fuel, other materials,
- cushion global warming,
- control erosion and siltation
- contribute to aesthetic beauty ~
Part 6
We Can Re-Create the Garden of Eden
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Arch of the Centuries and Fountain of Knowledge, University of Santo Tomas, ManilaWhat really make gardens beautiful may draw two schools of thought – Romanticism and Functionalism. But a typical Philippine garden for one does not take side on the issue – it portrays both schools in an integrated, harmonious design patterned after the richest and the most enviable biome on earth – the Tropical Rainforest.
And here are gardens to see - the Sunken Garden of UP Diliman QC at the back of the Oblation, and the UST Botanical Garden along España in downtown Manila. And for more extensive gardens, go to San Fernando La Union Botanical Garden in Cadaclan at the foothills of Cordillera. When picnicking at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center visit the vegetation along the lakeshore.
There are striking features of a garden. For example at UST, there are man-made waterfalls. Trace the flow on a meandering rocky stream that ducks under a footbridge before plunging into the depth of a pond, its bottom murky and cool and rich in detritus. Here clams and snails, and other bottom dwellers, mostly decomposers reside, shy from the sun and ensconced in the very food source that settles down. Such is the niche of these sessile, benthos creatures.
A Garden of Algae and Mosses
The running stream at the UP Sunken Garden keeps the environment fresh and cool, lapping on the rocks and sending spray on its banks. Small waterfalls and boulders lay along its path. Here thick algae and mosses layer after layer form a carpet on which another niche is found - the domain of bryophytes in Lilliputian imagery, or one depicted in the movie, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
But the ultimate source of water is the sky, from clouds that gather and grow atop the forest. Transpiration from trees on one hand and evaporation on the other attract clouds, pulling them down in shower or downpour at anytime of the day or night. It is for this phenomenon that this biome got its name - rainforest.
Nature's landscape in acrylic by the author 2021
The garden’s design simulates this condition. The waterfall, streams, a large fountain and a series of ponds maintain high humidity in their environs. High humidity and continuous supply of water are crucial in the formation of multi-storey vegetation and subsequently the presence of a myriad of resident organisms.
An Evolving Ecosystem
It may take years for a new garden to approximate the structure of a typical rainforest. In the process visitors may not be aware of the slow transformation, one sere after another until a climax community is formed, a true measure of it is homeostasis or dynamic balance. The scientific and aesthetic aspects are interesting to study. Inference can be drawn on the viewpoint of ethico-morals that governs man of his role in God’s creation – and the transformation of man himself as one good and faithful steward of the environment.
A botanical garden is thus transforming deliberately like an evolving ecosystem. It is Nature’s laboratory and a playing field of biological diversity.
Biological Diversity
1. As a field laboratory the garden demonstrates ecological cycles – invasion, colonization, competition, and emergence of dominant species, as well as seasonal and long-term succession patterns. We may not have the four distinct seasons, but there are tropical trees that demonstrate some temperate characteristics carried by their ancestral genes, such as the deciduousness of narra (Pterocarpus indicus) and talisay (Terminalia catappa) simulating trees in the temperate region that completely lose their leaves at the onset of winter.
Drynaria fern on a tree in acrylic AVR
Drynaria fern on a tree in acrylic AVR
2. The garden is a living manifestation of dynamic balance in a changing environment with the organisms constantly adjusting to the demands of the latter, but at the end they also change the environment itself. The transformation process or seres always leads towards homeostasis and the result is the formation of a climax ecological system.
3. As a showcase of natural habitats, the garden adjusts to the development of niches and diversity indices. The garden never sleeps, so to speak. It is an arena and the drama of life goes on and on.
Energy Flow
4. When we look at life, we look at it in the realm of physics and chemistry – the flow of energy through the food chain, food web and their hierarchic order, the food pyramid. The light energy of the sun is transformed into chemical energy by plants through photosynthesis, and is passed on one after another through the links of a chain until the remaining energy reaches the ultimate member – the decomposers that transform organic substances back into inorganic forms so that the next generation of organisms can start all over again. We can witness this among the residents in the pond, and among insects, arachnids, birds, reptiles, and others that inhabit the garden.
Plant Physiology and Animal Behavior
5. The garden demonstrates physiologic responses of plants - tropisms or reactions to light, touch, and the other elements on one hand, and animal behavior on the other. Why do plants grow tall, while others do not - even if they belong to the same species? Where do toads and frogs hide in summer? How do they survive without food and extreme hot and arid condition?
Dragonflies hover low before a rain. A preying mantis resembles the leaf or flower on which it waits for its prey. These and many more demonstrate intelligence among animals.
6. There are biological indicators of the state of the environment. The garden has a host of these indicators such as lichens and fireflies. The presence of both attest to the pristine condition of the environment and clean of air around. The garden itself is a barometer of El Niño. There are bamboo species that produce flowers at the onset of the cyclical phenomenon.
Gene Bank
7. The garden is a sanctuary of wildlife. In spite of the crowded environment and high-rise buildings around, a garden is always with butterflies. Some people say, if you see butterflies there must be a garden nearby. It is because the garden is their natural abode with plants they feed on and rear their young. The ponds and streams are a sanctuary of dragonflies as well, and their waters teem with both phytoplankton and
zooplankton that students in biology can study with the use of microscope.
zooplankton that students in biology can study with the use of microscope.
Balete trees atop a church ruin,
Magsingal Museum, Ilocos Sur.
8. As a gene bank, the garden is a depository of biological diversity, providing access to genetic studies, propagation and exchange with other institutions. A garden must aim at expanding its collection of species, even those that are thought to be weeds and volunteer plants. In many ways nature is the principal architect of biodiversity. Birds, water and wind carry seeds into the garden. When we design the garden we follow Nature rules. For example, plants are classified according to water regime, type of growth, sunlight requirement, seasonality, etc.
9. In another article I wrote, I mentioned about the garden as a microcosm of the biosphere, the pond a minuscule of a lake – and now, the new the garden is a replica of the Tropical Rainforest.
10. This miniature replica of a Tropical Rainforest, where living organisms – macroscopic and microscopic – live in a state of unity and harmony is man’s way of redeeming a lost Paradise. There is more than just romanticism and functionalism, not even human imagination can describe it. Indeed we can re-create a Garden of Eden is some little corner of the Earth, the greatest offering we can make to the Creator who gave us the capacity to build it. ~
Part 7
Twilight in the Forest
"Twilight is the quiet awaiting of sleep and forgetting, the expectation of the sensation that is peaceful and resigned... The forest always silent, now assumes that calm that is more breathless and awesome than silence." - Dr Arturo B Rotor, Convict's Twilight
Light in the Woods in acrylic by Dr Abercio Valdez Rotor 1995, Displayed at the former St Paul University Museum QC. Cover of book Light in the Woods by the same author.
The forest, always silent, now assumes that calm that is more breathless
and awesome than silence;
the breeze dies down, the leaves cease to rustle, the animals of the woods
slink away to their lairs;
one sees only an occasional crow, its obstreperous caw-caw-caw echoing
and re-echoing for miles around.
No Angelus rings here, for the nearest church is a day's journey away,
down the river and along the coast,
but one does not need to hear the tolling of distant bells to be reminded
of the hour for prayer.
One must pray here, if only to relieve the terrifying solitude,
to stay the gathering darkness.
Here one must kneel down, make the sign of the cross,
join the twilight hush that like a solemn invocation rises
above the heads of the tallest tree to heaven.
The darkness comes like a sluggish, ever deepening stream.
Imperceptibly it crawls, inch by inch, and as it crawls it swallows everything
that stands in its way,
first the towering trees, from their buttressed roots to the high quivering leaf,
then the shrubs and the undergrowth.
No one knows that it has reached a certain point by the sepulchral silence
that follows in its wake,
for it passes all sound and movement cease, the creaking of the stiff branches,
the scampering of the small animals under the trees,
even the wind as it hurries through the lattice of the leaves and vines seems arrested
in its flight.
Over the deep holes left by decaying logs, the deep puddles made by the wild boar,
this stream swirls and eddies and forms little unplumbed pools.
The hour signifies the end of the day's work, the cessation of all the hurrying
and stumbling during the day,
a chance to sit down or lie among the cool sedges that grow near the spring,
to bow your head or rest your bowed head on your arms;
twilight is the quiet awaiting of sleep and forgetting, the expectation
of the sensation that is peaceful and resigned...
The forest always silent, now assumes that calm that is more breathless
and awesome than silence.~
From the book, the Wound and the Scar, by Dr Arturo B Rotor, 1966 Republic Cultural Heritage Awardee for Literature. Dr Rotor finished medicine and conservatory of music at the same time from the University of the Philippines in 1932. He served as executive secretary of Presidents Quezon and Osmeña during the Second World War era.~
Part 8
Image of Nature in Mural
Little did I realize that the order of Nature is not merely determined by natural laws applied as ecological tenets, but as a divine law which determines its arrangement, the subordination of the means to the end, and the assimilation of the parts to the whole.
Dr Abe V Rotor
Wall mural (8 ft x 16 ft) St Paul University Quezon City by the author, 2000
Nature represents the idea of the entire universe in a state of perfection. Nature is one: it unites heaven and earth, connecting human beings with the stars and bringing them all together into a single family. Nature is beautiful; it is ordered. A divine law determines its arrangement, namely the subordination of the means to the end, and the parts to the whole.
After putting down my brush, I took a view of the mural from a distance. The scene – unspoiled nature – one spared from the hands of man and typified by the tropical rainforest, flowed out from a wall that was previously white and empty.
In the course of painting the mural, which took all of seven days and in the days following its unveiling, I took notice of the reactions of viewers. It must be the stillness of the scene, freshness of its atmosphere, and its apparent eccentricity that attract passersby as if in search of something therapeutic. It seems to slow down busy feet, soothing tired nerves. There is something I thought was mysterious beyond the levels of aesthetics. For the huge scene is a drama of life completely different from city living. It is respite. It is transformation from concrete to greenery, from cityscape to landscape.
Yet, I found it difficult to give it a title and an explanation that captures both its essence and message. This time many ideas crowded my mind. At the start of my painting labors, the challenge was how and where to start painting. Now that it is completed, what else is there to say after one has “said” it all in colors and lines, hues and shadows, perspective and design? What more is there to declare for after the last page of a book? For a painting, it is the same.
Relaxation did not come easy for me after many hours of concentrating on my subject, dealing with a fast-drying medium of acrylic. What made it more challenging was the unending attempt to capture those fleeting impressions and recollections that pervaded my mind as I painted. I then took a pen and slowly wrote my thoughts. From the mural, I saw the scenery of my childhood on the farm, views of my travels here and abroad, imagery from my readings, and views drawn out like a thread from the mass of a golf ball. It was imagery and memory working jointly.
Tropical Rainforest Model
I chose the tropical rainforest scenery since it is the richest of all ecosystems in the world. The Philippines, being one of the countries endowed with this natural wealth is a treasure, indeed. For this reason, I believe that, the tropical rainforest closely resembles the description of the biblical paradise. It is not only a living bank of biological diversity; it is the most important sanctuary of living matters on earth.
To paint such a big wall is no easy task. It is not unusual to face a blank wall, literally speaking, and not knowing what to do first even with all the colors and tools on hand – and a predetermined topic in mind. Shall I start at the center and move outward, or from both sides slowly progressing inward? Or do I divide the wall into parts, working on them one by one, then unifying them at the end?
…and Heaven and Nature Sing
Christmas was already in the air and the Siberian winds were bringing in the chills. Carol music was now being played in malls, schools and homes. I was engrossed in my work when some students, watching me paint, sang a familiar song. On this particular occasion, something about the song chimed inside me, directing me towards the central theme of my mural.
“…and heaven and nature sing,and heaven and nature sing,and heaven, and heaven and nature sing.”- Joy to the World
What does this mean? Is it the idea of nature representing the entire universe in a state of perfection? Or is it nature as one? Does it unite heaven and earth? Does it connect human beings and the galaxies as one family?
Little did I know of my ecology. As a subject I teach in college and in the graduate school I depend much on formulas and equations, principles and case studies. My knowledge about the environment is structured and formal. I use module maps or course syllabi based on accepted teaching techniques and references. My approach was comparative analysis. I was a judge of the beautiful and ugly, the do’s and don’ts. At times I am a Utopian; at others, conformist.
Little did I realize that the order of Nature is not merely determined by natural laws applied as ecological tenets, but as a divine law which determines its arrangement, the subordination of the means to the end, and the assimilation of the parts to the whole. Many of us are ignorant of this law, or if we know it, seem to forget or disregard it as we relentlessly work to exploit the earth.
In our apparent failure to preserve nature, perhaps it is time to look at ecology with the essence of this popular Christmas song – a song that makes everyday of the year, Christmas. Ecology is “heaven and nature singing together.” Only then can we truly understand the term, balance of nature – a kind of dynamic equilibrium that leads to homeostasis where there is stability among interdependent groups that characterize natural processes, and the period in which they take place. The ultimate conclusion is always a balanced system. We have to look beyond books to understand biological diversity, and its application in nature, to find the common phrase: In diversity there is unity. The general rule is that the wider the diversity is in terms of number of living species, and in terms of the number of natural species and their habitats, the more closely knit the biosphere becomes, resulting in a richer, more stable environment. Undoubtedly, all this is part of a grand design inspired divinely.
A Hole in the Sky
Looking at the mural from a distance one notices a darkened part of the sky, apparently a hole (though this is not the ozone layer pierced by CFC pollution). It gives one a feeling that it is a tunnel to infinity as if to link both earth and heaven. Through this hole, one envisions a Higher Principle. From the foreground, which is the placid stream of a downward meandering river, its tributaries and banks lined with trees and thickets, the eye soon reaches the forested hills and mountains shrouded by clouds.
But it does not end there. Here the cloud is a curtain laden with the radiance of the sun, and the life-giving provenance of rain, useless each without the other for life on earth to exist. This is the crossroad. The cloud opens with a backdrop of infinity. The universe, whose limit is unknown, bursts open a foreground that reveals a whole drama of life on earth. After that, the eye repeats the journey. In the process, the viewer becomes sensitive to the details of the painting. He searches for things familiar, or situations that later become a new experience.
Creatures in the Forest
Creatures in general are not as visible as they appear in books and on the screen. They blend with their surroundings mainly for predatory anticipation and protective camouflage. But there are other reasons too, that are not well understood. Take the case of the butterflies. Their beauty is extravagant for their basic function as pollinators. Fish jump for mere pleasure, dragonflies have wings that split light into prisms. Birds stay in the sky longer for the sheer joy of flying, and not just to cruise in search of a prey.
Among the animals suggested to me while painting the mural are flying lemur, Philippine monkey, heron, monitor lizard, boa constrictor and hornbill. I painted these - and many more, the way I imagined them in their natural habitat. I put a touch of Noah’s Ark, painting them in pairs. For the rodents, ducks and doves I made them in amiable groupings that exude a familial atmosphere.
Whenever I see viewers seriously searching for these creatures with walking fingers, I am tempted to add to the collection of creatures, making them even more difficult to find. But that might change the ambiance to fun and puzzle solving, rather than of meditation and recollection.
People in the Mural
The trees and the massiveness of the scenery dwarf the characters in the mural. They appear mindless of events and time. They care not for the chores of the day. Those who are engrossed fishing with a simple hook-and-line do not show excitement even as they land their catch. Others patiently wait for a bite. There is a sense of tranquility and peace to all characters, whether they are promenading or just passing the time away. Their faces show only the slightest hint of anger or sadness.
I noticed viewers trying to identify themselves with the characters of the mural. Some construction workers envision themselves fishing. High school students are drawn by the promenades. But there are those who simply imagine themselves part of the scene. “This place is familiar to me,” one would say, apparently recalling provincial life. “We have flying lemurs in Davao,” says another.
Where does the water flow, and what does the mural mean to us? Water is everywhere. It is free to flow. Tributaries abound as if there were no limit. Trees are everywhere and far into the backdrop is a vast virgin forest. There is no sign of man’s destructive hand. At the foreground is a placid pond where Nymphaea and lotus grow. It is in contrast to the lively pulse of the river. This is a corner where life is peaceful and serene. It is here that we draw strength in facing the river and beyond.
What really is the message of the mural?
Quite often, images of nature enrapture us. These are reminiscences of childhood, a re-creation of a favorite spot we may have visited or seen, or products of the imagination greatly influenced by the society we live in.
These images reflect a deep-seated biological longing to be part of nature. Putting it in the biblical sense, it is a natural searching for the lost paradise. They are a refuge from city living, a respite, and an escape from the daily grind.
But these images do not only tell us of what we are missing. Rather, it reminds us what we are going to miss, perhaps forever, if we do not heed nature’s signal towards a fast declining ecosystem. If we do not change our way of life from too much dependence on consumerism, to one more closely linked to conservation of nature, we may end up building memories and future archives of a lost world.
The warning is clear. The painting challenges everyone to do his part to save Mother Earth so that her beauty is not only kept in the form of images, but a scenery of real life enjoyed by us and future generations. x x x
Part 9
A Trek to Mt Makiling's Mystical Crater - Mudspring
The mountain's profile of a reclining deity, Maria Makiling, to whom the mountain was named, has lost much of her youthful features.
Satellite image of Mt Makiling and southeastern shore of Laguna Bay. Mt Makiling has lost much of its original vegetative cover to encroaching human settlements, swiden (kaingin) farming, commerce and tourism. In fact the mountain's profile of a reclining deity, Maria Makiling for which the mountain is named, has lost much of her youthful
features.
Statue of Maria Makiling protector of Mt Makiling, UPLB Laguna.
On the trail to the Mudspring with the author's family
Mudspring Crater, author with his children.
A Trek to Mt Makiling's Mystical Crater - Mudspring
It's a long trail if you start at the foot of Mt Makiling,
take the road with a four-wheel drive,
then stop where the road ends and from here starts
a long trek you really have to strive.
Among the huge towering trees you're but a dwarf
among creatures crawling or flying,
searching far beyond of what they are looking for;
theirs for living, yours for meaning.
Incessantly the crater pops scalding mud
and gases that boggle the mind,
a mystic shroud where mist and cloud meet,
a spectacle of a different kind.
Everybody loves this legendary mountain,
though fiery inside to be free;
Lofty is her majestic pose be near or far
reclining in peace and beauty.
Wonder the young mind thinks of this world,
a hybrid of fantasy and reality,
where spirits live and mortals dare to tread,
in a lifetime journey to infinity. ~
take the road with a four-wheel drive,
then stop where the road ends and from here starts
a long trek you really have to strive.
Among the huge towering trees you're but a dwarf
among creatures crawling or flying,
searching far beyond of what they are looking for;
theirs for living, yours for meaning.
Incessantly the crater pops scalding mud
and gases that boggle the mind,
a mystic shroud where mist and cloud meet,
a spectacle of a different kind.
Everybody loves this legendary mountain,
though fiery inside to be free;
Lofty is her majestic pose be near or far
reclining in peace and beauty.
Wonder the young mind thinks of this world,
a hybrid of fantasy and reality,
where spirits live and mortals dare to tread,
in a lifetime journey to infinity. ~
NOTE: Mount Makiling, or Mount Maquiling, is a dormant volcano in Laguna province on the island of Luzon, Philippines. The mountain rises to an elevation of 1,090 m (3,580 ft) above mean sea level and is the highest feature of the Laguna Volcanic Field. The volcano has no recorded historic eruption but volcanism is still evident through geothermal features like mud spring and hot springs. South of the mountain is the Makiling-Banahaw Geothermal Plant. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) classify the volcano as potentially active.
Mount Makiling is a state-owned forest reserve administered by the University of the Philippines, Los Baños. Prior its transfer to the university, the mountain was the first national park of the Philippines. Mount Makiling National Park was established on February 23, 1933 by Proc. No. 552. However, it was decommissioned as a national park on June 20, 1963 by Republic Act no. 3523 when it was transferred to the University for use in forestry education and information. (Now known as Mount Makiling Forest Reserve, it was declared an ASEAN Heritage Park in 2013.)
"Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves." - —John Muir, Our National Parks
"This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls." —John Muir, John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir
"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep Sea, and music in its roar:
I love not Man the less, but Nature more."
—Lord Byron "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage"
"Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. ... There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter." — Rachel Carson, Silent Spring
Author (center) poses with environmentalist at UPLB
"If we surrendered
to earth's intelligence
we could rise up rooted, like trees."
—Rainer Maria Rilke, Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God.
Part 10
Bioethics and Environment -
Two Basic Lessons in Life
Two Basic Lessons in Life
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Pristine water of Abra River passing through Banaoang Pass, Santa, Ilocos Sur
But there are no neighbors!
The first in the queue drew the posts of the house, on which the succeeding members made the roof and floor. The rest proceeded in making the walls and windows. On the second round the participants added garage, porch, veranda, gate, staircase, fence, swimming pool, TV antennae, and other amenities. Finally their dream house was completed and they returned to their seats. A lively “sharing session” followed and everyone was happy with the outcome of the exercise, including the teacher. Just then a little child happened to be passing by and saw the drawing of the house on the blackboard. He stopped and entered the classroom. He stood there for a long time looking at the drawing and the teacher approached him. The child exclaimed, “But there are no neighbors!”
Human relations is very important. Sociology has become a major field in education. There is a field of biology known as Human Ecology. Economics is rooted into the theory of equitable wealth distribution, where everyone gets a fair share of the pie. Most religions, including ancient religions, are anthropocentric. The Good Samaritan, The Prodigal Son, Matthew 25, Sermon on the Mount, the meaning of Messiah – all these and many more speak of man to be good to his fellowmen. Salvation is not aimed at oneself, but should be one that is collective, which means, “No one goes to heaven alone.” Very little mention is made on the role of the environment, or nature for that matter, in leading man to heaven.
But there are no trees, rivers...
In a another village near the first one I told you, there was a similar workshop. This time the participants were asked to draw a community. So they made a queue for the blackboard and after working together, came up with a beautiful drawing of a community. There are houses - many houses; a church, a school, village hall, plaza. Roads and bridges make a network in the village showing many people. The market is very busy. Anything that makes a typical village is there. The participants discussed, “What constitute a community?” and everyone was so eager and delighted at the result. Just then a little child was passing by, and when he saw the drawing on the backboard, stopped and entered the classroom. The teacher approached him. The child exclaimed, “But there are no trees, no birds; there are no mountains, no fields, no river!”
As no man is an island, so is a village without a natural environment. What good is man living on top of a hill while being surrounded by people in abject poverty? What good is progress – megacities, science and technology, internet, - when progress itself is responsible for the destruction of the land, the seas, and the atmosphere, in short, the Planet Earth.
Many days had passed since the two workshops. Virtually no one ever thought of looking for the little child - who he was or where he lived. Then the whole village suddenly realized, and so they began to search for him, but they never found him – not in the village, not in the neighboring village, not in the town, not in any known place.
Who was the little child? Everyone who saw him never forgot his kindly beautiful and innocent face, and they pondered on his words which remained a puzzle to them for a long, long time.
Environmental Philosophy
What is wrong with our relationship with nature? There are those who believe that nature shall serve humanity. On the other hand there are those who believe that humanity shall serve nature. And there are those who say, it is “something in between”.
We speak about environmental ethics, environmental philosophy, eco-philosophy, and so on, but what do we put into these concepts, and how? Understanding these terms may not solve environmental problems, but on the other hand it is questionable whether we can solve these problems without discussing them on a philosophical level.
There are different views about change. Scientific knowledge and government policies for example, often disagree and run into conflict at each other. Economics and ecology, though they share a common root word and foundation, are strange bedfellows, so to speak. Yet they support common goals geared toward change. But change has to be viewed more than the measures of GNP, currency, balance of trade, and the like, and should not only be confined to Human Development Indices, such as literacy rate, mortality and population. While these are parameters of growth and development, certain questions on sustainability and environmental preservation are left unanswered. How do we ensure future generations? We ask ourselves what is “progress without conscience?” And whose development? What is the relationship between progress and posterity?
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Environmental Movement
• Thoreau spoke of the side of “truth in nature and wilderness over the deceits of civilization.”
• Muir believed that “wilderness mirrors divinity, nourishes humanity, and vivifies the spirit.”
• Leopold was behind the policies in wilderness and game management. “Wilderness is the raw material out of which man has hammered the artifact called civilization.”
• Carson published Silent Spring, which dramatized the potential dangers of pesticides to food, wildlife, and humans causing wide spread damage to the ecosystem.
• Chico Mendes was a front liner in environmental conservation. He lost his life defending the concept of “extractive reserves” to conserve the Brazilian Rainforest that provided livelihood of the people against the conversion of the forest into ranches and plantations.
This world, which appears to be a great workshop in which knowledge is developed by man – which appears as progress and civilization, as a modern system of communication, as a structure of democratic freedom without any limitations – this world is not capable of making man happy. - Pope John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Pristine water of Abra River passing through Banaoang Pass, Santa, Ilocos SurI thank the International Congress on Bioethics for inviting me through Fr. Tamerlane Lana, to make a commentary on Bioethics and the Environment. Distinguished lecturers, fellow reactors, participants, guests, friends, good morning.
Our resource person, Dr. Michael Cheng-tek Tai, said, “… not only human life is influenced by biological factors but also by social, psychological and even environmental factors.” He asked, “Is our environment in a good condition to fortify a good life for mankind?”
First allow me to me to relate a story before I proceed with my reaction.
But there are no neighbors!
Once there was a workshop for adult leaders somewhere in Asia. The teacher asked the participants to draw on the blackboard a beautiful house, a dream house ideal to live in and raise a family. It was of course, an exercise, which in the minds of the participants was as easy as copying a model from experience and memory. Besides it is a universal dream to own such a house, which allows free interplay of both reason and imagination, using the left and the right brain. The participants formed a queue to allow everyone to contribute his own idea on the blackboard.
The first in the queue drew the posts of the house, on which the succeeding members made the roof and floor. The rest proceeded in making the walls and windows. On the second round the participants added garage, porch, veranda, gate, staircase, fence, swimming pool, TV antennae, and other amenities. Finally their dream house was completed and they returned to their seats. A lively “sharing session” followed and everyone was happy with the outcome of the exercise, including the teacher. Just then a little child happened to be passing by and saw the drawing of the house on the blackboard. He stopped and entered the classroom. He stood there for a long time looking at the drawing and the teacher approached him. The child exclaimed, “But there are no neighbors!”
Human relations is very important. Sociology has become a major field in education. There is a field of biology known as Human Ecology. Economics is rooted into the theory of equitable wealth distribution, where everyone gets a fair share of the pie. Most religions, including ancient religions, are anthropocentric. The Good Samaritan, The Prodigal Son, Matthew 25, Sermon on the Mount, the meaning of Messiah – all these and many more speak of man to be good to his fellowmen. Salvation is not aimed at oneself, but should be one that is collective, which means, “No one goes to heaven alone.” Very little mention is made on the role of the environment, or nature for that matter, in leading man to heaven.
But there are no trees, rivers...
As no man is an island, so is a village without a natural environment. What good is man living on top of a hill while being surrounded by people in abject poverty? What good is progress – megacities, science and technology, internet, - when progress itself is responsible for the destruction of the land, the seas, and the atmosphere, in short, the Planet Earth.
Many days had passed since the two workshops. Virtually no one ever thought of looking for the little child - who he was or where he lived. Then the whole village suddenly realized, and so they began to search for him, but they never found him – not in the village, not in the neighboring village, not in the town, not in any known place.
Who was the little child? Everyone who saw him never forgot his kindly beautiful and innocent face, and they pondered on his words which remained a puzzle to them for a long, long time.
Environmental Philosophy
What is wrong with our relationship with nature? There are those who believe that nature shall serve humanity. On the other hand there are those who believe that humanity shall serve nature. And there are those who say, it is “something in between”.
We speak about environmental ethics, environmental philosophy, eco-philosophy, and so on, but what do we put into these concepts, and how? Understanding these terms may not solve environmental problems, but on the other hand it is questionable whether we can solve these problems without discussing them on a philosophical level.
There are different views about change. Scientific knowledge and government policies for example, often disagree and run into conflict at each other. Economics and ecology, though they share a common root word and foundation, are strange bedfellows, so to speak. Yet they support common goals geared toward change. But change has to be viewed more than the measures of GNP, currency, balance of trade, and the like, and should not only be confined to Human Development Indices, such as literacy rate, mortality and population. While these are parameters of growth and development, certain questions on sustainability and environmental preservation are left unanswered. How do we ensure future generations? We ask ourselves what is “progress without conscience?” And whose development? What is the relationship between progress and posterity?
Which leads us to Dr. Tai’s paper, Who is man on earth? Is he Master? He proceeded in saying that man is a steward – one who must treat nature with overwhelming respect. Man has responsibility to God, to nature, to his fellowmen, other creatures and the Earth.
It is on this concept that we measure the obedience of man. It is also on this concept that man’s greatest achievement is made, his martyrdom, his heroism. The hero concept revolutionizes traditional and conventional definition of a hero. He is more than a nationalist, an economist, or an ideologist, as we generally know, but a hero for Mother Earth. The late Dr. Dioscorro Umali, national scientist, addressed a graduating class at the University of the Philippines with this statement, “Be the heroes we never were.” The essence of his speech is that his generation left so little of the earth’s resources for the next generations to inherit and enjoy. “We have not only abused the bounties of Nature,” he said, “We have destroyed her as well.” Which leads us to the topic, environmental movement.
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"Today, rather than defending himself against nature, man realized,
he needed to defend nature against himself."
- AV Rotor, Light from the Old Arch
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Environmental movement has roots in ancient cultures as gleamed from such old structures as the Banawe Rice Terraces. Throughout history as civilizations grew and spread the environment became a sacrificial lamb. Such phrases “all roads lead to Rome,” “the glory that was Greece, the grandeur that was Rome,” “the sun never sets on English soil,” and the eight wonders of the ancient world may reflect man’s ultimate achievements, yet all these were ephemeral in the mist of time in man’s dreams. In the end, it is nature that takes them away from the hands of man. The loss of natural environments has led to the decline of civilizations and their subsequent demise.
Revival of environmental awareness came at the heels of the Renaissance. In the 12th century St. Francis of Assisi brought a new concept of devotion. Brother Sun, Sister Moon, and all the creatures on Earth our friends, laid down the foundation of naturalism in the Christian church reviving much of the Aristotelian naturalism, and those in ancient cultures.
It is but fitting that St. Francis of Assisi is regarded as the patron saint of ecology. Time Magazine came up with a list of heroes for Planet Earth, among them are naturalist philosophers or conservationist philosophers are Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, Aldo Leopold, and Rachel Carson. Here is a glimpse at their contributions
• Emerson claimed that “behind nature, throughout nature, spirit is present.”
• Thoreau spoke of the side of “truth in nature and wilderness over the deceits of civilization.”
• Muir believed that “wilderness mirrors divinity, nourishes humanity, and vivifies the spirit.”
• Leopold was behind the policies in wilderness and game management. “Wilderness is the raw material out of which man has hammered the artifact called civilization.”
• Carson published Silent Spring, which dramatized the potential dangers of pesticides to food, wildlife, and humans causing wide spread damage to the ecosystem.
• Chico Mendes was a front liner in environmental conservation. He lost his life defending the concept of “extractive reserves” to conserve the Brazilian Rainforest that provided livelihood of the people against the conversion of the forest into ranches and plantations.
Other heroes of planet Earth cited include Barbara Ward, author of Only One Earth which shaped the UN environmental conference; Ernest Schumacher who did not believe in endless growth, mega-companies and endless consumption, an advocated for Small is Beautiful, a best seller; Jacques-Yves Cousteau, oceanographer who espoused the need to arrest the declining health of the oceans. There many more whom we can compare with the Unknown Soldier, but a soldier in defense of nature. ~
Part 11
Treetops - Aerial Ecosystem
Dr Abe V Rotor
Trees for Peace: Aerial Ecosystem on a Maze of Treetops - painting in acrylic (30" x 48") by Dr AV Rotor 2021. Courtesy of Congressman Deogracias Victor "DV" B Savellano, Deputy Speaker
and District Representative Ilocos Sur, 1st District
Details of the painting showing the interlocking branches that form the canopy and emergent layers, the massive trunks of century old trees prop the aerial ecosystem like pillars of a Parthenon. The foliage is differentially deciduous in continuous cycle, falling off to form thick litter on the ground which makes the ecosystem self regenerating. Altogether different organisms make a community, but occupy specific niches, or territories.
Flocks of birds make the treetops their abode, build nests at the interlacing branches, rearing their young until they are weaned and independent to fly. Many come back the next nesting season, with the generation born earlier - and with transients, specially those on their migratory route, make a rich biodiversity of feathered species.
Fowls find the lower branches to roost at night, sparrows freely roaming during the day, settle down come nighttime, kingfishers visit from nearby rivers and ponds, so with the crow (uwak), maya, perperroca, panal, pandangera, pipit and other birds that old folks in the place will attest, these birds make the treetops a stage of circus, concert, cum confetti.
Food, mate, comfortable home, among other elements and amenities of Nature like shelter from wind and rain, coolness of shade, elevated oxygen level, security from ground enemies, safety through anonymity by camouflage and mimicry, notwithstanding - these make the treetops a perfect place for many organisms to form an ecological system.
A hole in the sky like a tunnel speaks of spirituality, not in the religious sense but of interconnectedness of the ecosystem with a divine design and purpose, the primordial source of energy, the sun, and elements that contribute to homeostasis or dynamic balance, symbolized by white doves, emissary of peace and unity, and the aurora like fragments of rainbow.
The treetops have many eyes in the dark - nocturnal creatures on the move, fireflies mingling with the stars peeping through, phosphorescent fungi and protists, reflections of the surrounding world, or in one's imagination a fairy tale, a fantasy land, or simply a dream of a naturalist's world - and in the dark echo magical sounds of fiddling, croaking, calling, singing, and deep stillness in between.
The treetops demonstrate the workings of the four major components of an ecosystem - food chain, food web, food pyramid and organic-inorganic cycle - in a built-in pattern and interrelationship that insure the integrity of the ecosystem, and the perpetual cycle of living and non-living matters that makes the earth a living planet.
Food chains link predator-prey relationships like birds feeding on insects, so with reptiles and rodents, and on top of the ladder lords the hawk and eagle; while a food web constitutes interacting food chains, in the imaginary model of a spider web where all parts are interconnected, each organism playing a particular role.
Hierarchy on the treetops is further shown in a pyramid whereby organisms are classified according to "pecking order", in ascending dominance; the ones at the apex are superior, yet vulnerable to collapse if the pyramid loses stability at its base occupied by a host of organisms constituting various food chains and food webs.
Survival though is not in competition alone, in Darwinian law of survival of the fittest, but cooperation is equally important particularly where colonies and populations are involved, such as termites, ants and bees; or the symbiosis of red ants and aphids, alga and fungus forming lichen communities - these being a vital part of the treetops' ecosystem.
Symbiosis or mutualism is give-and-take relationship, but sharing may not be equitable such as orchids, ferns, and bryophytes clinging on trunks and branches, while its opposite, parasitism is exemplified by bark borers, caterpillars, scale insects, mealybugs, mistletoes, twig borers, and the classical balete that strangles and kills a whole tree, for which it is named strangler's fig.
The crown of this parasitic giant, balete becomes a part of the treetops, often rising as emergent, taller than the canopy layer and remaining evergreen throughout the year - even after its host tree has decayed leaving a continuous hollow described in Johann David Wyss' novel Swiss Family Robinson, which became as beautiful towering treehouse of the stranded family.
The treetops follow the seasons in the tropics, which are generally wet and dry, but also show semblance of the four seasons: autumn or fall at the onset of the cold wind or Siberian High called amihan, when deciduous trees shed their leaves, and spring at the onset of the rainy season when plants resume growth after the dry season, popularly known as summer.
When typhoon strikes the treetops serve as windbreak, save very strong winds which prune old and weak branches, thinning the crowns to regrow into fresh and thicker ones, inviting the return of the tenant-organisms and arrival of new ones, while the lifecycle of many is cut off temporarily - but soon regeneration puts back the integrity of the disturbed ecosystem.
Lianas and epiphytes add to the dense cover from trunk to treetops simulating that of a jungle: bromeliads, ferns and orchids add to the diversity and aesthetics of the scene, help create a miniclimate, and aerial gardens and ponds for midges, frogs, guppies, and help fertilize the trees and other plants with dead leaves and other materials they trap to become compost.
On the ground, litters of organic matter are built layer after layer, year after year where countless organisms live - earthworm, rodents,
herbivores like goats; termites convert wood into soil, so with fungi and Rhizobia; ground plants and shrubs though overshadowed, momentarily grow abundant during deciduous period, they indeed are part of the scenario of multi-storied vegetation similar to the rainforest, the richest biome. ~
Part 12
The Holy Father plants a tree.*
In celebration of the Pope's universal call, Laudato Si'
1. When spring comes without stir, “don't go gentle into the night,” rise and find out where have all the birds gone to herald the new season, the new beginning of life.
2. When the monsoon ends too soon, summer sets early, the land scorched, the rivers and ponds dried up, warn of the coming of a severe El Niño phenomenon.
3. When algal bloom in make-believe proportion spreads in lakes, sound the alarm of fish kill coming to avert losses and hunger, and save the ecosystem.
4. When people move to cities in exodus, convince them, advise government, it is a tender trap that takes them away from the real Good Life on the countryside.
5. When clouds simply pass over the landscape, take the lead to reforest the hills and mountains, restore the watershed with a million and one trees.
6. When flood sweeps the land taking with it lives and properties, and eroding soil fertility, be part of rehabilitation and planning; believe that flood can be tamed.
7. When you find an abundance of lichens of different types on trees and rocks, assure residents of the pristine condition of their environment, and help them to preserve it.
8. When and where wildlife areas are shrinking, backyards and idle lots can be developed as alternative wildlife sanctuary, initiate this as a community project.
9. When asked what vegetables are safe from pesticide residues and chemicals from fertilizers, promote native species like malunggay, kamote tops, gabi, saluyot, and the like, they are also more nutritious and easy to grow.
10. When asked of Nature's way of maintaining the ecosystem, explain the role of nitrogen-fixing microorganisms, composting, symbiosis, among other natural processes and cycles.
11. When additives are found in food - MSG, Nutrasweet or any artificial sugar, salitre in sausage, sulfite in white sugar, melamin in milk, formalin in fish, warn the public against taking these, initiate through legislation and campaign to ban these additives.
12. When children spend too much time before the TV, on computers, and other gadgets, offer alternatives more favorable to their upbringing and well-being by getting close to nature like camping, gardening and other outdoor activities.
13. When old folks talk about traditional wisdom and values, demonstrate native skills, listen and translate them into useful applications, disseminate these in school and through extension.
14. When animals are restless, reptiles and rodents coming out of their burrows and dens, fish attempting to escape, fowls noisy, suspect the coming of a force majeure such as earthquake, and be alert to face possible consequences.
15. When epidemic threatens an area, say bird flu, initiate community cooperation with health and other institutions to prevent further spread of the disease.
16. When a child has little concern about the environment, teach him, guide him to explore the beautiful world of nature, and make him realize his importance and his role.
Graduate students in Environmental Science pose with their professor ( second from right) on a field lecture on the university campus. Drynaria fern clings on camphor tree at the UST Botanical Garden, filtering sunlight, dusts, and radiation, and storing water and building organic matter for its own use and that of its host tree.
UST Botanical Garden is the oldest plant sanctuary in Manila, originally specializing in pharmaceutical plants.
University of Santo Tomas – The Graduate School First Semester, 2012-2013
Environmental Science – Professor: Dr Abe V Rotor
1. ADIVOSO, Angelica Cyril Cruz “AC” Faculty, College of San Benildo, Cainta, Rizal,
2. ARENAS, Minerva C “Mines” Faculty, Nueva Ecija High School, Cabanatuan City
3. CALIPJO, Arleen M “Arlene” Faculty, Cavite State University, Silang, Cavite
4. CHAO, George Y “George” Faculty, College of Engineering, UST
5. DE GUZMAN, Romualdo B Jr “Jun” Faculty, Bataan Peninsular State University
6. DELIMA, Precila C “Precy” Faculty, Isabela State University, Cauayan City, Isabela
7. DEMAUSA, Mary Joy C “Mary Joy” Staff Laboratory, University of the East, Caloocan
8. MANUBAY, Frederick Ray A “Fred” Faculty, High School, UST
9. ORDOñEZ, Maria Manuela P “Marie” Faculty, San Sebastian College, Recoletos, Cavite City
10. PANGANIBAN, Citadel Faculty, Lyceum of the Philippines University, Batangas
11. SANTOS, Hetdiliza A “Hydie” Faculty, Navotas National High School
12. VILLANUEVA, Laarni M “Lani” Faculty, Lyceum of the Phil U, Batangas
1. When spring comes without stir, “don't go gentle into the night,” rise and find out where have all the birds gone that herald the new season, and the new beginning of life.
2. When the monsoon ends too soon, summer sets early, the land scorched, the rivers and ponds dried up, warn of the coming of a severe El Niño, a cyclical phenomenon.
3. When algal bloom in make-believe proportion spreads in lakes, sound the alarm of fish kill coming in order to avert losses and hunger, and to save the ecosystem.
4. When people move to cities in exodus, convince them, advise government, it is a tender trap that takes them away from the real Good Life on the countryside.
5. When clouds simply pass over the landscape, take the lead to reforest the hills and mountains, restore the watershed with a million and one trees.
6. When flood sweeps the land taking with it lives and properties, and eroding soil fertility, be part of rehabilitation and planning; believe that flood can be tamed.
7. When you find an abundance of lichens of different types on trees and rocks, and fireflies at night, assure residents of the pristine condition of their environment, and help them in preserving it.
8. When and where wildlife areas are shrinking, backyards and idle lots can be developed as alternative wildlife sanctuary, initiate this as a community project.
9. When asked what vegetables are safe from pesticide residues and chemicals from fertilizers, promote native species like malunggay, kamote tops, gabi, saluyot, and the like, they are also more nutritious and easy to grow. And promote natural or organic farming, too.
10. When asked of Nature's way of maintaining the ecosystem, explain the role of nitrogen-fixing microorganisms, composting, symbiosis, and the like. These natural processes and cycles have been taking place even before the arrival of the human species.
11. When additives are found in food - MSG, Nutrasweet or any artificial sugar, salitre in sausage, sulfite in white sugar, melamin in milk, formalin in fish, warn the public against taking these, initiate through legislation and campaign to ban these additives.
12. When children spend too much time before the TV, on computers, and other gadgets, offer alternatives more favorable to their upbringing and well-being by getting close to nature like camping, gardening and other outdoor activities.
13. When old folks talk about traditional wisdom and values, demonstrate native skills, listen and translate them into useful applications, disseminate these in school and through extension.
14. When animals are restless, reptiles and rodents coming out of their burrows and dens, fish attempting to escape, fowls noisy, suspect the coming of a force majeure such as earthquake. Be alert to face possible consequences, and to extend assistance.
15. When epidemic threatens an area, say bird flu, hepatitis, dengue, cholera, initiate community cooperation with health and other institutions to arrest the spread of these diseases.
16. When a child has little concern about the environment, teach him, guide him to explore the beautiful world of nature, and make him realize his importance and his role in maintaining a balanced environment.
17. When there is a worthy movement to save the environment, such as Clean and Green, Piso sa Pasig, or any local campaign, lead and extend your full support.
18. When there are farms and fishponds neglected or abandoned, find out how these are put back to their productive conditions, or converted into a wildlife sanctuary.
19. When at rest or in confinement for health reason, explore natural remedies with herbals, through pet therapy, aromatherapy, and other proven remedies, in consultation with your doctor.
20. When in doubt if civilization is disguised evil, which is the root of war, poverty, environmental degradation, and the like, remember that it is also civilization that is responsible in building the great institutions of mankind, so that it is the obligation of each member of society to maintain the integrity of these institutions – indeed a noble mission to lead.
21. When appreciating the vastness of creation such as the seas, valleys, mountains, and entertain the idea that their resources are unlimited, view these in their microcosm like a pond or hill - for what can happen to this minuscule could be the same on a larger scale and proportion – be the prophet, but not of doom.
22. When you shall have found success in scholarship, wealth, power, family, etc., the task of integrating all these for the purpose of sharing with those in dire need, and for posterity and sustainability, becomes a greater challenge, indeed this is the price of success.
23. When devoting your time and energy and talents to the service of community and environment as dictated by your profession and as a good citizen, do not neglect your obligation to yourself and family, and by so doing, build a model on which you are looked up to by those you serve.
24. When hope dims in this troubled world, with continued disregard to protect Mother Earth, human abuse and indifference in pursuit of economic gains and affluence, violation of order and harmony of society, degradation of values, “don’t go gentle into the night” – be the sentinel ever vigilant, the guardian ever righteous, for opportunity awaits you in your greatest hour.
25. When on a fine Sunday morning you hear birds in the trees, fish splashing in a pond, and plants blooming, say a prayer of praise and thanksgiving in music and verse, painting, or simply through reflection of the magnificence of creation. ~
NOTE: To my students in particular, please recruit twelve (12) followers from your family, community and organization, who believe and are willing to carry on the tasks we have set. Send the list with basic info through avrotor@gmail.com or through the Comments of this Blog, or through Mail. These 25 tenets serve as guide in your recruitment and selection. This invitation is open to all viewers here and abroad.
Idyllic life on the farm mural by AVRotor. Courtesy of San Vicente, Ilocos Sur Municipal Hall
1. If you live a practical life so as to build personal savings, become less dependent on burrowing, and reduce wasteful living in the process.
2. If you practice a lifestyle that favors good health and relationship, without the trapping of vices and ostentatious living, making yourself an example to others.
3. You are an effective teacher using simple tools and methods, instead of sophisticated tools and expensive means, to be able to bring functional literacy to the grassroots bypassed by formal schooling.
4. If you generate power – electricity and fuel – through direct and natural means such as biofuel, and energy from wind and water, and not depend on expensive, destructive, and non-renewable sources.
5. If you convert wastes into new and recycled materials, such as composting and biogas generation, thus reducing pollution and conserving natural resources.
6. If you produce food from your backyard and kitchen (gardening, poultry, food processing), in line with self reliance, home enterprise and clean environment.
7. If you plant trees as an avowed activity to help Nature rebuild the environment, as a means of bioremediation, erosion and flood control, and the like, while increasing the supply of food and useful materials derived from them.
8. If you build your own home that is simple and economical, comfortable and health-promoting, harmonizing it with the aesthetics and bounty of nature, thus enhancing the beauty of creation itself.
9. If your go natural - from food, medicine to personal items, promoting organically grown food, alternative medicine, non-GMO (genetically modified organisms) and the like, thus protecting the health of humans and the environment.
11. If you do not stop learning, if you apply what you learn through skills, and valuing them as well, to your enhance your output, and to share them for the benefits of others.
12. If you recognize and uphold the institutions, respecting the laws of the land, and revering great men and women for their works and examples for which they lived and died, without condition of doing your part well.
13. If you make use of your time fully in work and study, and not live idly, thus living a life of example to the youth in particular - diligence, persistence, sharing, and most important, valuing of life’s purpose.
14. If you build a happy family and provide well its needs, and securing a bright future of your children - and even your children’s children.
15. If you engage in an enterprise, keeping in mind and applying it as well, through entrepreneurship that is equitable to all concerned stakeholders such as the Grameen Bank Model in Bangladesh founded by Nobel laureate M Yunus)
Children playing at the edge of a Forest, AVR
16. If you uphold and practice the principles of equality, fraternity and liberty, in every act and decision you make, providing room for kindness and forgiveness on one hand, and firmness and resolve on the other, even in the face of danger.
17. If you cannot quiet your mind and conscience with sin – whether it be a sin or commission or omission – until you have done your part in amending it and preventing it in harming other people, in corrupting society, and the environment.
18. If you are patient, forgiving, resilient, understanding, and such other qualities that enable you to rise above difficulties of living, particularly in times of calamities - not only for your own benefit, but more for those who are less fortunate than you are
19. If you always remember to pray to that one God for his Providence, recognizing His gifts, through expression of Goodness to yourself, to Humanity and to Mother Earth.
20. If you are aware and honestly believe that you are “passing this way but once,” thus living the life that best earns your passage to that kingdom of your Creator – however humble that life may be.
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In rural areas, there are wild and cultivated plants used as home remedies against common ailments, a time-honored ethnic practice associated with customs, beliefs and tradition. This is the field of ethnobotany – the study of the natural relationship of man and plants through evolutionary time.
Dr Romualdo M Del Rosario (left) foremost Filipino ethnobotanist poses with author
But as people move to towns and cities, and development continues to spread to remote areas, ethonobotanical studies may become just documents for future archives. The irony is that we have barely scratched the surface, in discovering the many uses of plants for medicine, agriculture and industry - sociology and art, notwithstanding.
Whole forest and ecosystems are natural gene banks. But with the fast shrinking wildlife, a technology in gene banking has been developed. Today genes can be banked and patented. This was pioneered by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the International Center for Wheat and Maiz Research (CIMMYT).
On the viewpoint of pharmacology, ethnobotany has paved the discovery of potent drugs and medicine, validating ethnic practices while leading into the formulation of new drugs. The trend today is that more and more people are going for natural medicine and food. There is a blossoming industry of herbal medicine and organically grown food. And people are willing to pay the price so long as they are assured of good health and a long and happy life. In many ways ethnobotany is helping pave the way toward this direction.
Herbals as First-Aid
There is always oregano (Coleus amboinicus) at home, ready to ease cough and sore throat. I imagine myself wearing a handkerchief wrapped around my forehead, advising my family and neighbors not to take cough drops or antibiotics for simple colds.I tell them to pick a young leaf of Oregano, chew it with fruit juice or soft drink. Or blanch it, extract the juice, and add sugar and warm water. It is practical and there are no side effects. And what a feeling! No wonder the plant’s name comes from the Greek words, Ore/Oros which means mountain, and ganos joy. “Joy on a mountain.”
Pliny the Elder used oregano to ease bad digestion. To Italians, it is the secret of their cooking and pizza, just as the Mexicans added it to chili con carne. Dinuguan tastes best with this aromatic herb.
On the other hand, I found out that Oregano is an insect repellant. Notice that mosquitoes, flies, fleas and roaches are kept away by its aromatic scent. It can be prepared as a natural pesticide, by simply crushing a few leaves in water, and applying the solution on the plants to control common garden pest. Oregano has essential oil and thymol, which is a strong antiseptic and disinfectant.
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Ethnobotany is the study of a region's plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture and people. An ethnobotanist thus strives to document the local customs involving the practical uses of local flora for many aspects of life, such as plants as medicines, foods, and clothing. Internet------------------------------
11. If a Fortune plant received as a gift bears flower, it is a sign of good luck; if it dies it is an omen of bad luck.
12. The balete (Ficus benjamina) is the home of bad spirits which cause those who go near the tree to become sick.
White lady haunts balete tree on Balete Drive QC, a popular ghost story
13. A woman on her menstrual period should not visit a garden or orchard otherwise the plants will become sick and ultimately die.
14. Avoid laughing while planting kamote (sweet potato) otherwise the roots will become liplike.
15. One who has incomplete teeth (bungal) should keep his mouth closed when planting corn, otherwise the plant will bear empty or poorly filled cobs.
16. Stoop when planting coconuts so they will not grow very tall.
17. When planting a tree seedling, avoid looking up so that the plant will not grow very tall.
18. Place the first fruits harvested from a plant in a large container and pretend to carry them as if they were very heavy so that the plant will be heavy with fruits.
19. A spiny cactus inside the house drives the witch away.
20. Someone will die if the fire tree blooms.
21. Talking while preparing gabi (taro) for cooking will make the it itchy when eaten.
22. Eating chicken cooked with squash will cause leprosy.
23. A person who eats any ripe fruit that is partly eaten by a bird will become talkative.
24. Bringing salt under a sour-fruit-bearing tree will cause the fruits to fall.
25. When planting sitao (long bean), place a comb on your hair to induce the production of abundant long fruits.
One of the common beliefs among rural folk is maan-anungan, a case when a person suddenly becomes indisposed, characterized by cold sweating and general weakness, often accompanied with stomach cramp, because “a spirit might have chanced upon person.” This is attributed to somebody who has been dead, or a living person who has the power to mangan-annung. Relief is sought by brushing or lightly whipping on his or her body with branches or leaves of malunggay (horse radish tree), atis (sweetsop), guyabano (soursop), or dayap (sour orange). Or let him or her be touched by the suspected mangan-annung, or wiped him with any clothing of the suspected dead person.
Then there is the belief that garlic cloves hung above the door will ward off the mananangal, a vampire who hovers around dwellings and attacks unwary victims. Then there are stories of the duwende (dwarfs) who bring either luck or misfortune, depending on the world they belong to. Next time you answer the call of nature under a tree, say, bari-bari, and don’t forget to spit on the spot after your relief.
Reny Casanan, in a similar study, relates these beliefs which are found among the Gaddangs of Isabela. The first items to carry with when moving into a new house are rice, a bundle of fuel, salt, sugar and coffee so that family will not run out of basic needs. Another belief is that, if harvest has been good, offer atang which consists of rice, viand, wined and palaspas (palm) as an offering, so that next year’s harvest will be as bountiful.
Ethnobotany and Gene Piracy
Sound the alarm. The pirates are coming! These pirates are armed with the latest tools of genetic engineering, and shielded by patent laws in their country Across the world, prospectors are sampling the local flora and fauna, and the genes of ethnic peoples, in search of new miracle drugs. An ethnical battle rages as prospectors scour the globe to find - and profit from - organisms that could cure the world’s worst diseases. According to Time, some ecologists are sounding dark warnings of a coming “gene war” between industrialized and emerging nations.
The idea is not really new. It started with IRRI when it put up a Gene Bank which houses today some 100,000 cultivars and varieties of rice. IRRI’s counterpart, CIMMYT in Mexico has a similar gene bank for wheat and corn. With genetic engineering today, genes banking and patenting have become mighty political and economic weapons of highly developed nations and giant trans-national corporations.
I had the opportunity to review and comment on a proposed bill to patent plants in the Philippines, under the title Plant Patent. The Senate of the Philippines remained firm to this date not to allow the passage of this bill. It believes that it is not only a matter that involves moral turpitude, but that the new law will adversely affect small farmers - millions of them, say in planting a patent-covered variety without paying the corresponding obligation to the patent holder.
This is the reported modus operandi of gene pirates. Foreign scientists disguised as tourists or volunteer workers, steal indigenous plants and animals - even human genes - develop useful products out of them which they then patent in their own country. According to Isidro Shia, a pharmacologist at UP, scientists posing as anthropologists have been gathering tissue samples from ethnic communities in the country known for their immunity to cancer and diabetes. The late Senator Juan Flavier called this exploitation a form of piracy and is rampantly committed in many parts of the world. Drug companies and agribusiness firms have been tapping genetic resources without even paying anything to countries where these genes are found.
Here are some examples of drugs manufactured from pirated plants. Taxol came from bark of a tree from a tropical rainforest, a cancer preventer. Jeevani is a drug from Kanis’ berries. It is a rich energy source, an anti-fatigue drug. “Old man’s cure” came from an African Pygeum tree. Sales of the bark reached $ 220 million a year. Sandeimmum/Neoral (Cyclosporin) another drug came from Kava plant, a Dioscorea species, which is a tranquilizer safer than Valium.
Actually we have just started for a long search because only one percent of the world’s flowering plants has been tested of their curative powers. But prospectors are all over like in a gold rush. Pirating is pocketing a gift God gave to all, and patenting is putting a tag on an act of God. There must be something to be done before these pirates loot our natural resources and heritage.
Age of Natural Medicine
According to Time, the sale of herbal and botanical supplements in the US in 1994 was $2 billion. It doubled in 1998, and by the following year it rose to $6 billion. There are 7.3 million Americans who swallow capsule made from Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea), a purple petalled daisy particularly during the cold and flu season. Some 7.5 million more take Prosac, an extract from a bright yellow flower called St. John’s wort. And there are 10.8 million people who are worried of fading memory so that they remind themselves to take regularly Gingko (Gingko biloba), a tree with fan-like leaves, and the only survivor of a large Family (Gingkokales). PHOTO
Millions of people are now taking in dose routinely, from various preparations of herbs, to stave off disease, brighten their moods, rev up their sex life or retain their youth. In the US alone the annual value of natural supplements amounts to more than $12 billion. This blossoming market is all over the world. People simply go for natural – natural food, pest- and fertilizer-free products, organically grown crops, native animals and fowls. Awareness is growing high against pesticide-treated fruits and vegetables, and high level of antibiotics in poultry and livestock products. People shy away from irradiated food, microwave-cooked food, and products of genetically engineered plants and animals (GMOs). And they are willing to pay the premium as long as they are certain the food and medicine they are taking are free from adulterants and other substances that are deleterious to health.
People today make more visits to non-traditional physicians, including faith healers, herbolarios, and naturopaths, who claim expertise in herbs and other natural therapies. In the Philippines, more and more people seek natural remedies, and a proof to this is the sudden emergence of apatot (Morinda citrifolia), a locally growing wild plant found to be the source of Morinda, a health drink among the Tahitians. The fruit is sold in the market and made into fruit juice. Recently, the Bureau of Food and Drug banned the taking of seeds of mahogany (Swietenia macroloba) as cure of rheumatism, arthritis and heart problem. Senator Juan Flavier warned the public that the seed contains cyanide which can cause damage to the brain, kidney and liver.
Because of this trend many pharmaceutical companies are changing their products and strategies. There has been a proliferation in the market of various health food and natural medicinal preparations, many of which are exaggerated. Laws and regulations on drugs are being reviewed. The sudden revival of thousand-year-old remedies focuses the importance of ethnobotany. It buoys the sagging faith of people in conventional medicine, and kindle and hope quaintness of healing using time- tested remedies, remedies instilled in the live and culture of our forebears. The perceived coldness and remoteness of sophisticated, computerized, and red-taped medicine, are driving people away to look for a humane, practical, community-oriented alternative - a kind of healing that touches the human spirit.
Outlook
These viewpoints present a Janus’ vantage point from where we stand today. Ethnobotany is besieged by advancing culture, seen on the screen of a computer, serving the needs of modern medicine, and globalization in terms of commerce and intercultural exchanges. On the other hand, ethnobotany offers us an opportunity to turn back to an unspoiled landscape where we study, even under extreme pressure of time and change, the drama which has been taking place many, many years ago, an enduring natural man-plant relationship vital to our success as a species, to be what we are today, our lifestyle and society. In our approach to the subject we may undermine the wealth of indigenous knowledge about the subject, which we must admit, we know so little about.
We should take time out and beat a path out there, bidding the unseen with whispers of bari-bari, as we seek and enter the Shang-rila of health and plenty, a place, a natural order of things, where our ancestors must have lived a full life. ~
In celebration of the Pope's universal call, Laudato Si'
Dr Abe V Rotor
In observance of the UN International celebrations: Earth Day (April 22),
Day of Biodiversity (May 22), and Environment Day (June 6)
1. When spring comes without stir, “don't go gentle into the night,” rise and find out where have all the birds gone to herald the new season, the new beginning of life.
2. When the monsoon ends too soon, summer sets early, the land scorched, the rivers and ponds dried up, warn of the coming of a severe El Niño phenomenon.
3. When algal bloom in make-believe proportion spreads in lakes, sound the alarm of fish kill coming to avert losses and hunger, and save the ecosystem.
4. When people move to cities in exodus, convince them, advise government, it is a tender trap that takes them away from the real Good Life on the countryside.
5. When clouds simply pass over the landscape, take the lead to reforest the hills and mountains, restore the watershed with a million and one trees.
6. When flood sweeps the land taking with it lives and properties, and eroding soil fertility, be part of rehabilitation and planning; believe that flood can be tamed.
7. When you find an abundance of lichens of different types on trees and rocks, assure residents of the pristine condition of their environment, and help them to preserve it.
8. When and where wildlife areas are shrinking, backyards and idle lots can be developed as alternative wildlife sanctuary, initiate this as a community project.
9. When asked what vegetables are safe from pesticide residues and chemicals from fertilizers, promote native species like malunggay, kamote tops, gabi, saluyot, and the like, they are also more nutritious and easy to grow.
10. When asked of Nature's way of maintaining the ecosystem, explain the role of nitrogen-fixing microorganisms, composting, symbiosis, among other natural processes and cycles.
11. When additives are found in food - MSG, Nutrasweet or any artificial sugar, salitre in sausage, sulfite in white sugar, melamin in milk, formalin in fish, warn the public against taking these, initiate through legislation and campaign to ban these additives.
12. When children spend too much time before the TV, on computers, and other gadgets, offer alternatives more favorable to their upbringing and well-being by getting close to nature like camping, gardening and other outdoor activities.
13. When old folks talk about traditional wisdom and values, demonstrate native skills, listen and translate them into useful applications, disseminate these in school and through extension.
14. When animals are restless, reptiles and rodents coming out of their burrows and dens, fish attempting to escape, fowls noisy, suspect the coming of a force majeure such as earthquake, and be alert to face possible consequences.
15. When epidemic threatens an area, say bird flu, initiate community cooperation with health and other institutions to prevent further spread of the disease.
16. When a child has little concern about the environment, teach him, guide him to explore the beautiful world of nature, and make him realize his importance and his role.
17. When there is a worthy movement to save the environment, such as Clean and Green, Piso sa Pasig, or any local campaign, lead and extend your full support.
18. When there are farms and fishponds neglected or abandoned, find out how these are put back to their productive conditions, or converted into a wildlife sanctuary.
19. When at rest or in confinement for health reason, explore natural remedies with plants, pet therapy, and other proven remedies
*In keeping with the Pope's universal call, Laudato Si' The key idea behind it is that of “integral ecology”, i.e. that people and planet are part of one family where the Earth is our common home. It invites people to protect God's creation for future generations, to embrace a lifestyle change for their own good, and to take care of people who are poor and more vulnerable. (Internet)
18. When there are farms and fishponds neglected or abandoned, find out how these are put back to their productive conditions, or converted into a wildlife sanctuary.
19. When at rest or in confinement for health reason, explore natural remedies with plants, pet therapy, and other proven remedies
20. When on a fine Sunday morning you hear birds in the trees, fish splashing in a pond, and plants bloom, say a prayer of praise and thanksgiving in music and poetry, painting, or simply a reflection of the magnificence o f creation. ~
Part 13
Trees for Peace
Apostles for the Environment
Dr Abe V Rotor
UST Botanical Garden is the oldest plant sanctuary in Manila, originally specializing in pharmaceutical plants.
Environmental Science – Professor: Dr Abe V Rotor
1. ADIVOSO, Angelica Cyril Cruz “AC” Faculty, College of San Benildo, Cainta, Rizal,
2. ARENAS, Minerva C “Mines” Faculty, Nueva Ecija High School, Cabanatuan City
3. CALIPJO, Arleen M “Arlene” Faculty, Cavite State University, Silang, Cavite
4. CHAO, George Y “George” Faculty, College of Engineering, UST
5. DE GUZMAN, Romualdo B Jr “Jun” Faculty, Bataan Peninsular State University
6. DELIMA, Precila C “Precy” Faculty, Isabela State University, Cauayan City, Isabela
7. DEMAUSA, Mary Joy C “Mary Joy” Staff Laboratory, University of the East, Caloocan
8. MANUBAY, Frederick Ray A “Fred” Faculty, High School, UST
9. ORDOñEZ, Maria Manuela P “Marie” Faculty, San Sebastian College, Recoletos, Cavite City
10. PANGANIBAN, Citadel Faculty, Lyceum of the Philippines University, Batangas
11. SANTOS, Hetdiliza A “Hydie” Faculty, Navotas National High School
12. VILLANUEVA, Laarni M “Lani” Faculty, Lyceum of the Phil U, Batangas
Apostles for the Environment Tenets
1. When spring comes without stir, “don't go gentle into the night,” rise and find out where have all the birds gone that herald the new season, and the new beginning of life.
2. When the monsoon ends too soon, summer sets early, the land scorched, the rivers and ponds dried up, warn of the coming of a severe El Niño, a cyclical phenomenon.
3. When algal bloom in make-believe proportion spreads in lakes, sound the alarm of fish kill coming in order to avert losses and hunger, and to save the ecosystem.
4. When people move to cities in exodus, convince them, advise government, it is a tender trap that takes them away from the real Good Life on the countryside.
5. When clouds simply pass over the landscape, take the lead to reforest the hills and mountains, restore the watershed with a million and one trees.
6. When flood sweeps the land taking with it lives and properties, and eroding soil fertility, be part of rehabilitation and planning; believe that flood can be tamed.
7. When you find an abundance of lichens of different types on trees and rocks, and fireflies at night, assure residents of the pristine condition of their environment, and help them in preserving it.
8. When and where wildlife areas are shrinking, backyards and idle lots can be developed as alternative wildlife sanctuary, initiate this as a community project.
9. When asked what vegetables are safe from pesticide residues and chemicals from fertilizers, promote native species like malunggay, kamote tops, gabi, saluyot, and the like, they are also more nutritious and easy to grow. And promote natural or organic farming, too.
10. When asked of Nature's way of maintaining the ecosystem, explain the role of nitrogen-fixing microorganisms, composting, symbiosis, and the like. These natural processes and cycles have been taking place even before the arrival of the human species.
11. When additives are found in food - MSG, Nutrasweet or any artificial sugar, salitre in sausage, sulfite in white sugar, melamin in milk, formalin in fish, warn the public against taking these, initiate through legislation and campaign to ban these additives.
12. When children spend too much time before the TV, on computers, and other gadgets, offer alternatives more favorable to their upbringing and well-being by getting close to nature like camping, gardening and other outdoor activities.
13. When old folks talk about traditional wisdom and values, demonstrate native skills, listen and translate them into useful applications, disseminate these in school and through extension.
14. When animals are restless, reptiles and rodents coming out of their burrows and dens, fish attempting to escape, fowls noisy, suspect the coming of a force majeure such as earthquake. Be alert to face possible consequences, and to extend assistance.
15. When epidemic threatens an area, say bird flu, hepatitis, dengue, cholera, initiate community cooperation with health and other institutions to arrest the spread of these diseases.
16. When a child has little concern about the environment, teach him, guide him to explore the beautiful world of nature, and make him realize his importance and his role in maintaining a balanced environment.
17. When there is a worthy movement to save the environment, such as Clean and Green, Piso sa Pasig, or any local campaign, lead and extend your full support.
18. When there are farms and fishponds neglected or abandoned, find out how these are put back to their productive conditions, or converted into a wildlife sanctuary.
19. When at rest or in confinement for health reason, explore natural remedies with herbals, through pet therapy, aromatherapy, and other proven remedies, in consultation with your doctor.
20. When in doubt if civilization is disguised evil, which is the root of war, poverty, environmental degradation, and the like, remember that it is also civilization that is responsible in building the great institutions of mankind, so that it is the obligation of each member of society to maintain the integrity of these institutions – indeed a noble mission to lead.
21. When appreciating the vastness of creation such as the seas, valleys, mountains, and entertain the idea that their resources are unlimited, view these in their microcosm like a pond or hill - for what can happen to this minuscule could be the same on a larger scale and proportion – be the prophet, but not of doom.
22. When you shall have found success in scholarship, wealth, power, family, etc., the task of integrating all these for the purpose of sharing with those in dire need, and for posterity and sustainability, becomes a greater challenge, indeed this is the price of success.
23. When devoting your time and energy and talents to the service of community and environment as dictated by your profession and as a good citizen, do not neglect your obligation to yourself and family, and by so doing, build a model on which you are looked up to by those you serve.
24. When hope dims in this troubled world, with continued disregard to protect Mother Earth, human abuse and indifference in pursuit of economic gains and affluence, violation of order and harmony of society, degradation of values, “don’t go gentle into the night” – be the sentinel ever vigilant, the guardian ever righteous, for opportunity awaits you in your greatest hour.
25. When on a fine Sunday morning you hear birds in the trees, fish splashing in a pond, and plants blooming, say a prayer of praise and thanksgiving in music and verse, painting, or simply through reflection of the magnificence of creation. ~
NOTE: To my students in particular, please recruit twelve (12) followers from your family, community and organization, who believe and are willing to carry on the tasks we have set. Send the list with basic info through avrotor@gmail.com or through the Comments of this Blog, or through Mail. These 25 tenets serve as guide in your recruitment and selection. This invitation is open to all viewers here and abroad.
Part 14
Living with Nature
20 Advocacies, a Reflective Analysis in these Critical Times
Dr Abe V Rotor
Idyllic life on the farm mural by AVRotor. Courtesy of San Vicente, Ilocos Sur Municipal Hall
You can stand victorious - defend your family and community - and be a hero in your own right in these critical and post-critical times. Consider the following advocacies, rate yourself accordingly through Reflective Analysis.
1. If you live a practical life so as to build personal savings, become less dependent on burrowing, and reduce wasteful living in the process.
2. If you practice a lifestyle that favors good health and relationship, without the trapping of vices and ostentatious living, making yourself an example to others.
3. You are an effective teacher using simple tools and methods, instead of sophisticated tools and expensive means, to be able to bring functional literacy to the grassroots bypassed by formal schooling.
4. If you generate power – electricity and fuel – through direct and natural means such as biofuel, and energy from wind and water, and not depend on expensive, destructive, and non-renewable sources.
5. If you convert wastes into new and recycled materials, such as composting and biogas generation, thus reducing pollution and conserving natural resources.
6. If you produce food from your backyard and kitchen (gardening, poultry, food processing), in line with self reliance, home enterprise and clean environment.
7. If you plant trees as an avowed activity to help Nature rebuild the environment, as a means of bioremediation, erosion and flood control, and the like, while increasing the supply of food and useful materials derived from them.
8. If you build your own home that is simple and economical, comfortable and health-promoting, harmonizing it with the aesthetics and bounty of nature, thus enhancing the beauty of creation itself.
10. If you protect wildlife and help rebuild the natural habitat of threatened and endangered species of plants and animals in ecological sanctuaries, and by enforcing laws in protecting them.
An unspoiled coral reef by AVRotor
11. If you do not stop learning, if you apply what you learn through skills, and valuing them as well, to your enhance your output, and to share them for the benefits of others.
12. If you recognize and uphold the institutions, respecting the laws of the land, and revering great men and women for their works and examples for which they lived and died, without condition of doing your part well.
13. If you make use of your time fully in work and study, and not live idly, thus living a life of example to the youth in particular - diligence, persistence, sharing, and most important, valuing of life’s purpose.
14. If you build a happy family and provide well its needs, and securing a bright future of your children - and even your children’s children.
15. If you engage in an enterprise, keeping in mind and applying it as well, through entrepreneurship that is equitable to all concerned stakeholders such as the Grameen Bank Model in Bangladesh founded by Nobel laureate M Yunus)
Children playing at the edge of a Forest, AVR
16. If you uphold and practice the principles of equality, fraternity and liberty, in every act and decision you make, providing room for kindness and forgiveness on one hand, and firmness and resolve on the other, even in the face of danger.
17. If you cannot quiet your mind and conscience with sin – whether it be a sin or commission or omission – until you have done your part in amending it and preventing it in harming other people, in corrupting society, and the environment.
19. If you always remember to pray to that one God for his Providence, recognizing His gifts, through expression of Goodness to yourself, to Humanity and to Mother Earth.
20. If you are aware and honestly believe that you are “passing this way but once,” thus living the life that best earns your passage to that kingdom of your Creator – however humble that life may be.
--------------
Paintings, Children of Nature by students in Humanities
under AVRotor at St Paul University QC
Mural Painting on Nature by AVRotor
--------------
* Reprint, originally "2010 - Year of Heroes. Are you one of them?"
upon followers' request during these pandemic times, updated and edited.
Part 15
Ethnobotany: Reviving the Natural Relationship of Man and Plants
Superstitious beliefs and ethnobotany are closely associated. On closer examination such beliefs have greatly enhanced the relationship of man and the unseen that shapes his life, drawing from it a rich collection of folklore, songs and prayers. Indirectly such relationship has helped in the preservation of his environment.
Dr Abe V Rotor
Dr Romualdo M Del Rosario (left) foremost Filipino ethnobotanist poses with author
Whole forest and ecosystems are natural gene banks. But with the fast shrinking wildlife, a technology in gene banking has been developed. Today genes can be banked and patented. This was pioneered by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the International Center for Wheat and Maiz Research (CIMMYT).
On the viewpoint of pharmacology, ethnobotany has paved the discovery of potent drugs and medicine, validating ethnic practices while leading into the formulation of new drugs. The trend today is that more and more people are going for natural medicine and food. There is a blossoming industry of herbal medicine and organically grown food. And people are willing to pay the price so long as they are assured of good health and a long and happy life. In many ways ethnobotany is helping pave the way toward this direction.
Herbals as First-Aid
There is always oregano (Coleus amboinicus) at home, ready to ease cough and sore throat. I imagine myself wearing a handkerchief wrapped around my forehead, advising my family and neighbors not to take cough drops or antibiotics for simple colds.I tell them to pick a young leaf of Oregano, chew it with fruit juice or soft drink. Or blanch it, extract the juice, and add sugar and warm water. It is practical and there are no side effects. And what a feeling! No wonder the plant’s name comes from the Greek words, Ore/Oros which means mountain, and ganos joy. “Joy on a mountain.”
Pliny the Elder used oregano to ease bad digestion. To Italians, it is the secret of their cooking and pizza, just as the Mexicans added it to chili con carne. Dinuguan tastes best with this aromatic herb.
On the other hand, I found out that Oregano is an insect repellant. Notice that mosquitoes, flies, fleas and roaches are kept away by its aromatic scent. It can be prepared as a natural pesticide, by simply crushing a few leaves in water, and applying the solution on the plants to control common garden pest. Oregano has essential oil and thymol, which is a strong antiseptic and disinfectant.
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Ethnobotany is the study of a region's plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture and people. An ethnobotanist thus strives to document the local customs involving the practical uses of local flora for many aspects of life, such as plants as medicines, foods, and clothing. Internet
I have observed many rural homes surrounded by other useful plants such as soro-soro, a species of Euphorbia, used to control ringworm. It is also an excellent meat tenderizer and vegetable. The leaves are chopped and stuffed in lechon and relyeno. Lagundi is good for fever and flu, alovera (Aloe vera) for burns, pandakaki (Tabernamontana pandacaqui) for minor cuts. Tanglad is a condiment for kuhol. Young leaves of native bayabas (Psidium guajava) are good for skin infection and allergy. Ilang-ilang (Cananga odorata) and sampaguita (Jasminium sambac) are natural air fresheners in the surroundings. A home garden is very useful indeed as it provides fresh vegetables and herbals as home remedies.
Ethnobotany and Economic Botany
The uses of plants have expanded and more and more species are placed under cultivation for their uses. When they become commodities of commerce, the place of these plants are no longer under ethnobotany but Economic Botany. As ethnic communities gave in to larger, invading cultures, the original man-plant has changed into one that is economic in nature. The practice of kaingin and overpopulation also contribute to the decline of an ethnic community. Ethnic members become integrated into the more progressive society which would offer them better chances of survival, and possibly better life. Because of this ethnobotany has become one of the sciences that records the inevitable and dynamic changes our world has been undergoing, more so during this age of accelerated industrialization and modernization.
It is a race time, before we lose the opportunity to record the shrinking ethnic communities, and the knowledge about the plants that shaped lives and culture through countless generations. Ethnobotanical studies at the UST Graduate School, point out that there is no longer a “pure ethnic community.” Immigration, marriages with lowlanders and exposure to the latter’s way of life through the influence of media and school, have contributed to the modification and subsequent loss of ethnic identity. Apparently such loss is irreversible because the cultural base which largely consists of ancestral lands are opened to development and other forms of exploitation.
Ethnobotanical Researches at UST
Let me cite some studies in ethnobotany conducted at the UST Graduate School with Dr. Romulado M. Del Rosario as professor and thesis adviser. Dr. Del Rosario introduced me into this field, and with him I worked on the Ethnobotany of Maguey in the Ilocos Region, and the Ethnic Practices of Basi Wine Making in the Ilocos Region.
Old camphor trees at UST campus Manila
One of the pioneering works is Ethnobotany of the Itawes, a dissertation by Sister Mamerta Rocero SPC, which was published by the National Museum in 1982. Ethnozoology soon followed. Ethnozoology of the Itawes by Generosa Balubal. (MS Biology 1996) is a pioneer research in our country.
Wilfredo Vendivil (1994) worked on Ethnomedicinal Plants in Ilocos Norte along the borders of Cordillera and Cagayan. He reported 141 species of plants, 58 percent of which grow in the wild, while the 42 percent are cultivated, mainly on the backyard. The study reported 228 uses of these plants on 56 kinds of diseases and ailments, which include fever and flu, diarrhea, stomachache, boils, toothache, colic, dysmenorrhea, and rheumatism. The list also includes anemia, general weakness, numbness, gall bladder trouble, convulsion, paralysis, tuberculosis, intestinal worms, heart problem, poisonous bites, scabies, lumbago, beri-beri, and fungal and bacterial infections.
Vendivil reported that the local residents believe there is no plant growing in their area that does not have any importance. This implies that there is a wealth of knowledge these people have on plants, and their belief in the curative power of plants - which brings to mind that healing and faith go hand on hand.
Lolita O. Uy (1994) worked on the Ethnobotany of the Ilongots in Nueva Viscaya. She described 141 species of plants belonging to 136 genera and 108 families, of which 42 species are for food, 9 for construction, 10 for animal feeds. The rest are used for cleaning, making toys, preservative, masticatory, soap and shampoo, ripening agent, perfume, fish poison, insect repellant and ornamental purposes. The tribe’s local economy is centered in the forest and there are 9,000 hectares of virgin forest they claim as their ancestral land. Like other ethnic tribes, they feel threatened by lowlander intruding into their territory.
Reny Casanan (1997) conducted a similar study with the Gaddangs of Isabela. Among the 167 plant species she studied, 88 are food to the natives, 47 as medicine, 18 for construction, handicraft, furniture and the like, and 56 for various uses from toys to perfumes, rituals and ceremonies. The Gaddangs are now a heterogeneous group through inter-marriage and cultural integration with the nearby population centers.
Alma Poblete (1999) worked on Ethnobotany of Bamboo among the Aetas in Orion, Bataan. There are four important species of bamboo for their edible shoot, and two species as an occasional source of drinking water (water is stored in the internodes). The leaves of Bambusa blumeana is used in curing kidney disorder, while Schizostachyum lumampao is used to bring a patient from relapse, and as cure of fever and malaria. It is this species that the Aetas use in cooking rice and other food. Three species are used in making flute, toys and different kinds of basket that they sell on the lowland. Bamboo is indispensable to the Aetas. Aside from the uses mentioned they depend on bamboo for transport, weapon, fish trap and even riprapping river banks. Because of this they have learned to propagate bamboo, intercropping it with bananas, thus indicating a departure from fundamental ethnobotany.
Meet Maria Dulce Pototoy-Bunquin who worked on Wild Food Plant Resources of the Batak Tribe in Palawan and lived with these natives during her study to learn their culture and dialect. There are 24 uncultivated plant species belonging to 15 families utilized by the Bataks as food, the most important is Arecaceae or the Palm Family. But the use of wild food plants has become infrequent in the presence of cultivated crops in the settlement. The utilization of wild plants and their method of kaingin farming are part of their indigenous culture. The Bataks are no longer a homogeneous ethnic group, although they are still very much dependent on the forest for their subsistence.
Plant Introduction and Wild Food Plants
Let me turn back the hands of time. Many of the plants that give us food today, from cereals to fruits and vegetables, fibers we make into clothes, and hundreds of products, are not indigenous. These include the popular coffee, cacao and tea. Drugs and medicine, derived from plants, were once growing in the wild. The primordial turning point of human society is in the discovery and subsequent development of useful plants by our primitive ancestors. As communities grew, demand increased and many of these plants became important items of agriculture and commerce.
Remember Mutiny on the Bounty? A shipload of breadfruit or rimas (Artocarpus communis) seedlings was being transported to England’s prison-islands in the Pacific when the mission was foiled by the uprising. Breadfruit could be a cheap and ready source of staple for the convicts.
Similarly, many plants were actually introduced into the places they are growing today. Grapes, apricot, grapes, oranges and the like, were introduced into the United States continent from the Middle East and Europe, Mexico and South America by the colonizers and pioneers. Before the Europeans found the Orient, many plants of Asian and Pacific origin were already growing throughout the region, an indication that they were introduced by earlier cultures.
Viewpoints on Pharmacology
Only about 20 percent of the population in developing countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Pacific Ocean benefit from modern drugs. People in these areas generally use traditional and natural remedies in curing ailments. Even in the next millennium, it is believed that plants will remain as the main source of materials in the manufacture of drugs and medicine.
Rhodora Escalada-Gonzales worked on the anti-inflammatory properties of three common weeds - parol-parolan (Cardiospermum halicacabum), vanatnid (Indigofera tinctoria) and tahebteb (Vitex trifolia). She found out that these plants are a potential dual inhibitor of cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase based on their strong anti-inflammatory activity. The significance of this finding is that it confirms the reported effectiveness extracts by herbolarios. Having identified the active principles, the essential chemical moieties can lead into the manufacture of a new drug.
Plants and Ethnic Beliefs and Superstition
Superstitious beliefs and ethnobotany are closely associated. I still remember many of these beliefs learned from old folks, the curious boy that I was, surrounded by fields and woodlands. While passing through a thicket where no path is visible you should utter repeatedly, bari-bari, an apology for trespassing into a place guarded by the unseen.
The following superstitious beliefs were selected from Ethnobotany of the Itawes, a doctoral research of Sister Mamerta Rocero, SPC. These beliefs are not only confined among the Itawes of Cagayan Valley but are shared by other cultures as well. These are translations from the Itawes dialect.
1. A conceiving mother should never pick fruits from a tree otherwise the tree will die.
2. A papaya plant in front of a house brings bad luck.
3. A pregnant mother who eats twin bananas might give birth to twins.
4. A tree surrounded by fireflies during the night brings good luck.
5. Plant coconuts during starry nights so they will yield abundant fruits.
6. Plant coconuts during moonlight nights so they will produce big nuts.
7. Hang empty bottles on the trellises of upo (white squash) so that it will bear more fruits.
8. Eating from stocks intended for seeds will bring poor harvest.
9. Burying a little sugar with the seeds of ampalaya (bitter gourd) will prevent the fruits from becoming bitter.
10. Anyone dreaming of something tragic, such as death in the family should, upon waking up, strike the trunk of any tree with a bolo so that the dream will not become a reality.
Ethnobotany and Economic Botany
The uses of plants have expanded and more and more species are placed under cultivation for their uses. When they become commodities of commerce, the place of these plants are no longer under ethnobotany but Economic Botany. As ethnic communities gave in to larger, invading cultures, the original man-plant has changed into one that is economic in nature. The practice of kaingin and overpopulation also contribute to the decline of an ethnic community. Ethnic members become integrated into the more progressive society which would offer them better chances of survival, and possibly better life. Because of this ethnobotany has become one of the sciences that records the inevitable and dynamic changes our world has been undergoing, more so during this age of accelerated industrialization and modernization.
It is a race time, before we lose the opportunity to record the shrinking ethnic communities, and the knowledge about the plants that shaped lives and culture through countless generations. Ethnobotanical studies at the UST Graduate School, point out that there is no longer a “pure ethnic community.” Immigration, marriages with lowlanders and exposure to the latter’s way of life through the influence of media and school, have contributed to the modification and subsequent loss of ethnic identity. Apparently such loss is irreversible because the cultural base which largely consists of ancestral lands are opened to development and other forms of exploitation.
Ethnobotanical Researches at UST
Let me cite some studies in ethnobotany conducted at the UST Graduate School with Dr. Romulado M. Del Rosario as professor and thesis adviser. Dr. Del Rosario introduced me into this field, and with him I worked on the Ethnobotany of Maguey in the Ilocos Region, and the Ethnic Practices of Basi Wine Making in the Ilocos Region.
Old camphor trees at UST campus Manila
One of the pioneering works is Ethnobotany of the Itawes, a dissertation by Sister Mamerta Rocero SPC, which was published by the National Museum in 1982. Ethnozoology soon followed. Ethnozoology of the Itawes by Generosa Balubal. (MS Biology 1996) is a pioneer research in our country.
Wilfredo Vendivil (1994) worked on Ethnomedicinal Plants in Ilocos Norte along the borders of Cordillera and Cagayan. He reported 141 species of plants, 58 percent of which grow in the wild, while the 42 percent are cultivated, mainly on the backyard. The study reported 228 uses of these plants on 56 kinds of diseases and ailments, which include fever and flu, diarrhea, stomachache, boils, toothache, colic, dysmenorrhea, and rheumatism. The list also includes anemia, general weakness, numbness, gall bladder trouble, convulsion, paralysis, tuberculosis, intestinal worms, heart problem, poisonous bites, scabies, lumbago, beri-beri, and fungal and bacterial infections.
Vendivil reported that the local residents believe there is no plant growing in their area that does not have any importance. This implies that there is a wealth of knowledge these people have on plants, and their belief in the curative power of plants - which brings to mind that healing and faith go hand on hand.
Lolita O. Uy (1994) worked on the Ethnobotany of the Ilongots in Nueva Viscaya. She described 141 species of plants belonging to 136 genera and 108 families, of which 42 species are for food, 9 for construction, 10 for animal feeds. The rest are used for cleaning, making toys, preservative, masticatory, soap and shampoo, ripening agent, perfume, fish poison, insect repellant and ornamental purposes. The tribe’s local economy is centered in the forest and there are 9,000 hectares of virgin forest they claim as their ancestral land. Like other ethnic tribes, they feel threatened by lowlander intruding into their territory.
Reny Casanan (1997) conducted a similar study with the Gaddangs of Isabela. Among the 167 plant species she studied, 88 are food to the natives, 47 as medicine, 18 for construction, handicraft, furniture and the like, and 56 for various uses from toys to perfumes, rituals and ceremonies. The Gaddangs are now a heterogeneous group through inter-marriage and cultural integration with the nearby population centers.
Alma Poblete (1999) worked on Ethnobotany of Bamboo among the Aetas in Orion, Bataan. There are four important species of bamboo for their edible shoot, and two species as an occasional source of drinking water (water is stored in the internodes). The leaves of Bambusa blumeana is used in curing kidney disorder, while Schizostachyum lumampao is used to bring a patient from relapse, and as cure of fever and malaria. It is this species that the Aetas use in cooking rice and other food. Three species are used in making flute, toys and different kinds of basket that they sell on the lowland. Bamboo is indispensable to the Aetas. Aside from the uses mentioned they depend on bamboo for transport, weapon, fish trap and even riprapping river banks. Because of this they have learned to propagate bamboo, intercropping it with bananas, thus indicating a departure from fundamental ethnobotany.
Meet Maria Dulce Pototoy-Bunquin who worked on Wild Food Plant Resources of the Batak Tribe in Palawan and lived with these natives during her study to learn their culture and dialect. There are 24 uncultivated plant species belonging to 15 families utilized by the Bataks as food, the most important is Arecaceae or the Palm Family. But the use of wild food plants has become infrequent in the presence of cultivated crops in the settlement. The utilization of wild plants and their method of kaingin farming are part of their indigenous culture. The Bataks are no longer a homogeneous ethnic group, although they are still very much dependent on the forest for their subsistence.
Plant Introduction and Wild Food Plants
Let me turn back the hands of time. Many of the plants that give us food today, from cereals to fruits and vegetables, fibers we make into clothes, and hundreds of products, are not indigenous. These include the popular coffee, cacao and tea. Drugs and medicine, derived from plants, were once growing in the wild. The primordial turning point of human society is in the discovery and subsequent development of useful plants by our primitive ancestors. As communities grew, demand increased and many of these plants became important items of agriculture and commerce.
Remember Mutiny on the Bounty? A shipload of breadfruit or rimas (Artocarpus communis) seedlings was being transported to England’s prison-islands in the Pacific when the mission was foiled by the uprising. Breadfruit could be a cheap and ready source of staple for the convicts.
Similarly, many plants were actually introduced into the places they are growing today. Grapes, apricot, grapes, oranges and the like, were introduced into the United States continent from the Middle East and Europe, Mexico and South America by the colonizers and pioneers. Before the Europeans found the Orient, many plants of Asian and Pacific origin were already growing throughout the region, an indication that they were introduced by earlier cultures.
Viewpoints on Pharmacology
Only about 20 percent of the population in developing countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Pacific Ocean benefit from modern drugs. People in these areas generally use traditional and natural remedies in curing ailments. Even in the next millennium, it is believed that plants will remain as the main source of materials in the manufacture of drugs and medicine.
Rhodora Escalada-Gonzales worked on the anti-inflammatory properties of three common weeds - parol-parolan (Cardiospermum halicacabum), vanatnid (Indigofera tinctoria) and tahebteb (Vitex trifolia). She found out that these plants are a potential dual inhibitor of cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase based on their strong anti-inflammatory activity. The significance of this finding is that it confirms the reported effectiveness extracts by herbolarios. Having identified the active principles, the essential chemical moieties can lead into the manufacture of a new drug.
Plants and Ethnic Beliefs and Superstition
Superstitious beliefs and ethnobotany are closely associated. I still remember many of these beliefs learned from old folks, the curious boy that I was, surrounded by fields and woodlands. While passing through a thicket where no path is visible you should utter repeatedly, bari-bari, an apology for trespassing into a place guarded by the unseen.
The following superstitious beliefs were selected from Ethnobotany of the Itawes, a doctoral research of Sister Mamerta Rocero, SPC. These beliefs are not only confined among the Itawes of Cagayan Valley but are shared by other cultures as well. These are translations from the Itawes dialect.
1. A conceiving mother should never pick fruits from a tree otherwise the tree will die.
2. A papaya plant in front of a house brings bad luck.
3. A pregnant mother who eats twin bananas might give birth to twins.
4. A tree surrounded by fireflies during the night brings good luck.
5. Plant coconuts during starry nights so they will yield abundant fruits.
6. Plant coconuts during moonlight nights so they will produce big nuts.
7. Hang empty bottles on the trellises of upo (white squash) so that it will bear more fruits.
8. Eating from stocks intended for seeds will bring poor harvest.
9. Burying a little sugar with the seeds of ampalaya (bitter gourd) will prevent the fruits from becoming bitter.
10. Anyone dreaming of something tragic, such as death in the family should, upon waking up, strike the trunk of any tree with a bolo so that the dream will not become a reality.
11. If a Fortune plant received as a gift bears flower, it is a sign of good luck; if it dies it is an omen of bad luck.12. The balete (Ficus benjamina) is the home of bad spirits which cause those who go near the tree to become sick.
White lady haunts balete tree on Balete Drive QC, a popular ghost story
13. A woman on her menstrual period should not visit a garden or orchard otherwise the plants will become sick and ultimately die.
14. Avoid laughing while planting kamote (sweet potato) otherwise the roots will become liplike.
15. One who has incomplete teeth (bungal) should keep his mouth closed when planting corn, otherwise the plant will bear empty or poorly filled cobs.
16. Stoop when planting coconuts so they will not grow very tall.
17. When planting a tree seedling, avoid looking up so that the plant will not grow very tall.
18. Place the first fruits harvested from a plant in a large container and pretend to carry them as if they were very heavy so that the plant will be heavy with fruits.
19. A spiny cactus inside the house drives the witch away.
20. Someone will die if the fire tree blooms.
21. Talking while preparing gabi (taro) for cooking will make the it itchy when eaten.
22. Eating chicken cooked with squash will cause leprosy.
23. A person who eats any ripe fruit that is partly eaten by a bird will become talkative.
24. Bringing salt under a sour-fruit-bearing tree will cause the fruits to fall.
25. When planting sitao (long bean), place a comb on your hair to induce the production of abundant long fruits.
One of the common beliefs among rural folk is maan-anungan, a case when a person suddenly becomes indisposed, characterized by cold sweating and general weakness, often accompanied with stomach cramp, because “a spirit might have chanced upon person.” This is attributed to somebody who has been dead, or a living person who has the power to mangan-annung. Relief is sought by brushing or lightly whipping on his or her body with branches or leaves of malunggay (horse radish tree), atis (sweetsop), guyabano (soursop), or dayap (sour orange). Or let him or her be touched by the suspected mangan-annung, or wiped him with any clothing of the suspected dead person.
Then there is the belief that garlic cloves hung above the door will ward off the mananangal, a vampire who hovers around dwellings and attacks unwary victims. Then there are stories of the duwende (dwarfs) who bring either luck or misfortune, depending on the world they belong to. Next time you answer the call of nature under a tree, say, bari-bari, and don’t forget to spit on the spot after your relief.
Reny Casanan, in a similar study, relates these beliefs which are found among the Gaddangs of Isabela. The first items to carry with when moving into a new house are rice, a bundle of fuel, salt, sugar and coffee so that family will not run out of basic needs. Another belief is that, if harvest has been good, offer atang which consists of rice, viand, wined and palaspas (palm) as an offering, so that next year’s harvest will be as bountiful.
Ethnobotany and Gene Piracy
Sound the alarm. The pirates are coming! These pirates are armed with the latest tools of genetic engineering, and shielded by patent laws in their country Across the world, prospectors are sampling the local flora and fauna, and the genes of ethnic peoples, in search of new miracle drugs. An ethnical battle rages as prospectors scour the globe to find - and profit from - organisms that could cure the world’s worst diseases. According to Time, some ecologists are sounding dark warnings of a coming “gene war” between industrialized and emerging nations.
The idea is not really new. It started with IRRI when it put up a Gene Bank which houses today some 100,000 cultivars and varieties of rice. IRRI’s counterpart, CIMMYT in Mexico has a similar gene bank for wheat and corn. With genetic engineering today, genes banking and patenting have become mighty political and economic weapons of highly developed nations and giant trans-national corporations.
I had the opportunity to review and comment on a proposed bill to patent plants in the Philippines, under the title Plant Patent. The Senate of the Philippines remained firm to this date not to allow the passage of this bill. It believes that it is not only a matter that involves moral turpitude, but that the new law will adversely affect small farmers - millions of them, say in planting a patent-covered variety without paying the corresponding obligation to the patent holder.
This is the reported modus operandi of gene pirates. Foreign scientists disguised as tourists or volunteer workers, steal indigenous plants and animals - even human genes - develop useful products out of them which they then patent in their own country. According to Isidro Shia, a pharmacologist at UP, scientists posing as anthropologists have been gathering tissue samples from ethnic communities in the country known for their immunity to cancer and diabetes. The late Senator Juan Flavier called this exploitation a form of piracy and is rampantly committed in many parts of the world. Drug companies and agribusiness firms have been tapping genetic resources without even paying anything to countries where these genes are found.
Here are some examples of drugs manufactured from pirated plants. Taxol came from bark of a tree from a tropical rainforest, a cancer preventer. Jeevani is a drug from Kanis’ berries. It is a rich energy source, an anti-fatigue drug. “Old man’s cure” came from an African Pygeum tree. Sales of the bark reached $ 220 million a year. Sandeimmum/Neoral (Cyclosporin) another drug came from Kava plant, a Dioscorea species, which is a tranquilizer safer than Valium.
Actually we have just started for a long search because only one percent of the world’s flowering plants has been tested of their curative powers. But prospectors are all over like in a gold rush. Pirating is pocketing a gift God gave to all, and patenting is putting a tag on an act of God. There must be something to be done before these pirates loot our natural resources and heritage.
Age of Natural Medicine
According to Time, the sale of herbal and botanical supplements in the US in 1994 was $2 billion. It doubled in 1998, and by the following year it rose to $6 billion. There are 7.3 million Americans who swallow capsule made from Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea), a purple petalled daisy particularly during the cold and flu season. Some 7.5 million more take Prosac, an extract from a bright yellow flower called St. John’s wort. And there are 10.8 million people who are worried of fading memory so that they remind themselves to take regularly Gingko (Gingko biloba), a tree with fan-like leaves, and the only survivor of a large Family (Gingkokales). PHOTO
Millions of people are now taking in dose routinely, from various preparations of herbs, to stave off disease, brighten their moods, rev up their sex life or retain their youth. In the US alone the annual value of natural supplements amounts to more than $12 billion. This blossoming market is all over the world. People simply go for natural – natural food, pest- and fertilizer-free products, organically grown crops, native animals and fowls. Awareness is growing high against pesticide-treated fruits and vegetables, and high level of antibiotics in poultry and livestock products. People shy away from irradiated food, microwave-cooked food, and products of genetically engineered plants and animals (GMOs). And they are willing to pay the premium as long as they are certain the food and medicine they are taking are free from adulterants and other substances that are deleterious to health.
People today make more visits to non-traditional physicians, including faith healers, herbolarios, and naturopaths, who claim expertise in herbs and other natural therapies. In the Philippines, more and more people seek natural remedies, and a proof to this is the sudden emergence of apatot (Morinda citrifolia), a locally growing wild plant found to be the source of Morinda, a health drink among the Tahitians. The fruit is sold in the market and made into fruit juice. Recently, the Bureau of Food and Drug banned the taking of seeds of mahogany (Swietenia macroloba) as cure of rheumatism, arthritis and heart problem. Senator Juan Flavier warned the public that the seed contains cyanide which can cause damage to the brain, kidney and liver.
Because of this trend many pharmaceutical companies are changing their products and strategies. There has been a proliferation in the market of various health food and natural medicinal preparations, many of which are exaggerated. Laws and regulations on drugs are being reviewed. The sudden revival of thousand-year-old remedies focuses the importance of ethnobotany. It buoys the sagging faith of people in conventional medicine, and kindle and hope quaintness of healing using time- tested remedies, remedies instilled in the live and culture of our forebears. The perceived coldness and remoteness of sophisticated, computerized, and red-taped medicine, are driving people away to look for a humane, practical, community-oriented alternative - a kind of healing that touches the human spirit.
Outlook
These viewpoints present a Janus’ vantage point from where we stand today. Ethnobotany is besieged by advancing culture, seen on the screen of a computer, serving the needs of modern medicine, and globalization in terms of commerce and intercultural exchanges. On the other hand, ethnobotany offers us an opportunity to turn back to an unspoiled landscape where we study, even under extreme pressure of time and change, the drama which has been taking place many, many years ago, an enduring natural man-plant relationship vital to our success as a species, to be what we are today, our lifestyle and society. In our approach to the subject we may undermine the wealth of indigenous knowledge about the subject, which we must admit, we know so little about.
We should take time out and beat a path out there, bidding the unseen with whispers of bari-bari, as we seek and enter the Shang-rila of health and plenty, a place, a natural order of things, where our ancestors must have lived a full life. ~
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