Gregg Yan Archives | Inquirer ��

Where ‘baboy damo’ can still roam wild and free

cbuban — Sun, 26 Jan 2025 05:25:14 +0000

LEYTE, Philippines — Deep in the misty mountains of Leyte, we searched for “baboy damo” (wild boars). The rainforest was cool that day in February 2023, but since each squishy step ended in ankle-deep mud, I was sweating like a pig. The biologists in our company were busy recording the mountain’s native plants or installing

Like Hogwarts, this ‘hidden’ academy trains new environmental leaders

cbuban — Mon, 09 Dec 2024 03:19:13 +0000

CARRANGLAN, NUEVA ECIJA, Philippines — It’s 8 a.m. and 31 pairs of eyebrows are furrowed in concentration, tackling the finer points of budget and financial planning. This is no simple hour-long workshop, but something more intense. People are actually using calculators. A packed hour later, Kamille Rosales from the United Nations Development Programme’s Biodiversity Finance

Bats part of success (not horror) story at reforested Bicol site

��Publish — Sun, 29 Oct 2023 05:46:00 +0000

MANITO, Albay, Philippines — “We were on a motorcycle one night when I noticed a shadow on the road. I looked up and saw what seemed like a large bird. I thought it was an aswang! I could even hear the loud flapping of its wings,” recalls Fatima Espineda from Gubat, Sorsogon. “Eventually though, I

All that glittery fish isn’t gold for San Pablo’s Sampaloc Lake

��Publish — Sun, 23 Jul 2023 05:44:00 +0000

MANILA, Philippines — For almost a decade now, Lake Sampaloc in San Pablo, Laguna province, has been host to a growing golden horde. But it’s a glistening sight that comes at a great ecological cost. Jepolo Austria used to raise only Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) in his fish pens, but

The unsung value of native Philippine plants

��Publish — Sun, 28 May 2023 05:36:00 +0000

What are the most familiar Pinoy fruits? Mangoes, bananas, pineapples, and papayas probably come to mind—but did you know that Philippine forests harbor hundreds of lesser-known fruits, nuts, and herbs? Alupag or Philippine lychee tastes like the lychees originally imported from China. Saba or native bananas are loved by millions of Pinoys. Kamansi is our

The secret life of pangolins

racosta — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 05:50:34 +0000

It’s 1 a.m. and deep in the jungles of Palawan, researchers and a squad of Philippine Marines are searching for pangolins, the most illegally trafficked mammals on earth.

Groups, gov’t partners tap farmers to save Candaba wetlands

besguerra — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 07:21:59 +0000

CANDABA, Pampanga, Philippines — It’s 5 in the morning and we’re on a cart, about to be pulled by an unusually large carabao. A jolt and we grunt, giggle and try to enjoy the bumpy ride along ponds and rice fields still shrouded in darkness.

How Tagbanua tribesmen protect the ‘mermaids’ of Palawan

clopez — Sun, 20 Jan 2019 05:40:20 +0000

Wearing fins from recycled plastic containers, tough Tagbanua tribesmen have become the protectors of the dugong.

Dodging bullets and angry tamaraws, they brave odds for Mindoro wildlife

lalos — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 07:24:31 +0000

Trapped on the banks of an angry swollen river, the old Taw’buid woman trembled in the pelting rain, protected by nothing but a flimsy banana leaf.

Swimming with sardines in Moalboal

dlejano — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 13:39:32 +0000

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swishing and swarming around us is an endless wave of sardines, moving as one to avoid circling predators like tuna and mackerel.

The most affordable fish in the Philippines

acerojano — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 16:24:05 +0000

Recently visiting the Navotas Fish Complex in Manila, I noticed about 30 tubs of Clown Knifefish (Chitala ornata) being sold for the low, low sum of P15 per kilo -- making them ten times cheaper than galunggong (Decapterus punctatus).

Change has come to Mindoro

lalos — Sun, 23 Oct 2016 04:42:11 +0000

It was raining sheets at the Iglit-Baco National Park as we hunkered down inside a thatched hut with three ancient Fufu-amas, elders of the Taw’Buid tribe from Mindoro province. Clad in loincloth, they were smoking a mysterious herb supposed to be tobacco, that smelled like something else.

The guardian of Tawi-Tawi’s Bud Bongao

acerojano — Tue, 02 Aug 2016 13:51:38 +0000

Over the last three years, Imam Rudy has been regularly climbing Bud Bongao. He hikes up the mountain every day except Friday, ascending for 30 minutes and descending in as little as 15 minutes – twice as fast as a regular pilgrim!

3 ways to save Nemo and Dory

Hotaru Niitsu — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 16:48:06 +0000

Sure, Finding Nemo was an awesome movie, inspiring a generation of people to love clownfish, now colloquially called Nemos. Its intended message was to keep fish in the sea, where they belong.

How firebreaks, educating the public can save PH mountains

tdejesus — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 21:28:07 +0000

Clearly, El Niño, dry vegetation and fire don’t mix. Mt. Apo is the country’s highest. Mt. Kanlaon is known as the tallest of all Visayan peaks. Bud Bongao is recognized the holy mountain of Tawi-Tawi. They have one thing in common–all are in flames. Mt. Apo and Bud Bongao are burning because of campfires while

Where there is a Lolong, there will always be fish

ryanl — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 02:04:14 +0000

“They look like dinosaurs!” I screamed, gaping at live crocodiles for the first time with my brother, Jaypee. This was Manila Zoo in the 1990s and to pint-sized kids, 14-foot crocodiles seemed giant, ancient and utterly invincible.

Dive, find jewels of the deep in Mindoro

Noy — Sun, 15 May 2011 05:05:28 +0000

Editor’s Note: The author is the communications and media officer of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Philippines). THIS TALE is fraught with sharks and treasure, pirates and poachers, strife and solutions. Come, dive with me! “Apo Reef is the ‘Jewel of Mindoro,’” former Sablayan Mayor Godofreido Mintu told me recently over a seafood dinner.

Gregg Yan Archives | Inquirer ������