Research body eyes yearly biodiversity symposiums

THE National Research Council of the Philippines ( NRCP) will hold annual symposiums on biodiversity after staging on October 12 the second Basic Research and fauna were presented.

symposium focused on presenting

“We want to communicate to the public about new researchbased knowledge on biodiversity. There are many completed projects that are not yet presented to the public, especially to students, budding researchers, technologists etc.,” Maria Elena Talingdan, NRCP chief Science Research Specialist, told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).

She added that there were only a few researches about biodiversity and the NRCP decided to present these at the symposium, which it plans to do yearly.

Participants in the symposium included key stakeholders from national government agencies, private organizations, academe, researchers, teachers of science, technology, and mathematics (STEM), and Congress Committee on Public Health and Natural Resources.

Talingdan said apart from communicating the results of six NRCP- funded projects on biodiversity, the council expects to formulate policy recommendations and or technology application and further research in the following areas: endemic coffee shrubs, Argostemma species; Anti- hyperuricemic extracts of selected Philippine plants; Probiotic and Nutraceutical compounds of indigenous plants and lactic acid bacteria; Taxonomical illustration of Philippine beetle; and ecologi-

and small non-volant mammals of Mount Banahaw.

There were three projects on

- eny of Argostemma species (Rubiaceae). This project examined the genetic make-up of the Philippine endemic coffee shrubs. According to NRCP, the results of this project may be used to review the species ecology, evolution, biogeography and conservation status.

The other two projects focused on the chemical diversity and drug potentials of Philippine indigenous plants.

“The results of one project showed potentials of certain species of plant as anti-hyperuricemic [ gout], while the results of the other project showed the probabilities of various plants extracts and a certain strand of lactic acid bacteria as probiotics and neutraceuticals,” NRCP said.

Three projects on fauna were also presented.

First were the results of the study on the Philippine beetle. NRCP expects these results to enrich the country’s taxonomical records on the fauna of phylum arthropods.

The other studies were on the roles of two species of faunas on phyla mollusca and chordata, in the ecosystem they live in.

“The research-based information from these projects may be

solutions on the overpopulation of the species and or strengthening others in the food web to sustain balance in the ecosystem,” the NRCP said in a statement. Representatives from the Wetlands International Philippines Program and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources open an art exhibit on migratory birds titled ‘ Wonders in Wetlands’ that runs from October 15-19 at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.