The government through the Commission on Higher Education has allocated a P7-million research-fund to study the biodiversity of Davao City and its hinterlands.
Dr. Milton Norman Medina, director for Qualitative Studies in the University of Mindanao, said the study brings the opportunity to push the advocacy of knowing the plants in our environment which may been seen but unfamiliar by name and importance to the current generation. UM and three other universities are involved in the research.
He said that through this study, they can pass on to the students the idea to become conservationist by knowing the local species in their surroundings.
Medina recalled that in 2011, they formed a research team that would monitor the biodiversity in Mindanao.
He said that from documenting the study, they came up with educational materials like brochure and pamphlets.
“From then on, we brought the materials to the academe,” Medina said.
He stressed that it is important to impart to the students the existence of endemic species which are vast especially in Mindanao but are not given significance.
Medina said that aside from plants, there are also reptiles and amphibians that can be seen only here and need to be studied.
He also stressed the importance of studying the herbal plants which are greatly related to our cultural practices.
“Herbal plants have cultural value to various tribes. Its scientific importance and cultural value cannot be separated,” he said.
Medina said the current study headed by the University of Mindanao will run for two years with the allotment at P7 million which will cover not only the forest but also the fresh water-marine ecosystem. (PIA 11-Joey Sem G. Dalumpines)
