Vanishing Treasures
I would like to invite the HEdCen community to support a photo-exhibit of the Philippines’ rich but highly endangered flora and fauna. On a per unit area basis, our country has a higher biodiversity (wealth of life forms or the number of different kinds of plants and animals) than the whole of Europe! But sad to say, we are also the hottest of the hotspots in that we are cutting down our forests and polluting our waters at an alarming rate. Study the diagram below (from Vanishing Treasures of the Philippine Rainforest, Heaney and Regalado, 1998):
The island of Negros exemplifies how savagely we have been treating our environment (the green-shaded areas represent forests). Our country is said to hold the record for the most alarming rate of deforestation in the world- we have cut our total forest cover from 70% to a mere 7% in less than a century. The effects? I choose a tragic example which unfortunately, is only one among many: the Ormoc flashflood of November 5, 1991 where 8,000 people were killed. When we cut down the trees that stem the flood, we pay with our lives.
The Vanishing Treasures photo exhibit seeks to promote understanding, awareness and hence, a deep sense of stewardship in the HEdCen community, especially in our children who will inherit our environment, or what’s left of it.
You can help by sponsoring a framed photo of an endangered plant or animal (see sample below: P500, small format; P1000, large format). The funds raised in this endeavor will be used for the reforestation and water quality testing of the Tungtong River. Kindly send your donation to the Business Office c/o Teacher Pinky on or before February 14, 2008 (a circular was released last February 6 regarding this).
Vanishing Treasures will open on February 27, 2008 at the Grade 1 classroom.
Thank you and good day,
Teacher Henry Calilung
PS To learn more about our nation’s biodiversity, visit www.fieldmuseum.org/Vanishing_Treasures.
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