ikeseneres

WHAT CAN WE DO TO CONSERVE THE REMAINING NATIVE AND ENDEMIC FISH SPECIES? I have been reading many sad stories about endangered wildlife, but one story recently really made me sad: 15 fish species endemic to Lake Lanao are already extinct in the wild. Gone. Dead. And because they were endemic to Lake Lanao, we cannot simply go to another country and bring them back. This is the big difference between a native species and an endemic species. A native species may also naturally occur elsewhere, while an endemic species is found nowhere else in the world. According to the IUCN assessment, 15 endemic Lake Lanao cyprinids were declared extinct, while two others were classified as Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct. How did we allow this to happen? Why did we not know early enough that these fish were disappearing? I do not want to point fingers. But whose fault was it? Was it the LGUs around Lake Lanao? The DENR Biodiversity Management Bureau? BFAR? MSU? Or all of us, in one way or ano...

AUSTRALIA BUILDS AN EXCELLENT MODEL OF A COMMUNITY OWNED SOLAR PARK What exactly is a solar park? And has anyone heard of this model being built in the Philippines? I recently came across an interesting Australian model that immediately caught my attention. It is called the Yiray Clean Energy Park , formerly known as the Orange Community Renewable Energy Park, in New South Wales. It has 11,676 solar panels , a capacity of 6.8 megawatts , and a 10.5 MWh battery storage system . It is expected to generate more than 13.2 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually—enough to power approximately 2,150 homes . But for me, the most interesting part is not the number of solar panels. It is community ownership . The project was developed through a partnership between energy developer EDP and the Energy Democracy Central West NSW Co-operative. About 128 local community co-owners invested $1.36 million directly into the project. In simple language, I would call this “combined solar” instead of “indi...

A TUNA ONCE CONSIDERED EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO BREED IN CAPTIVITY HAS SPAWNED NATURALLY IN THE PHILIPPINES This is the kind of good news that I am looking for. A tuna that was considered extremely difficult to breed in captivity has actually spawned naturally in the Philippines. The fish is mackerel tuna, or kawakawa (Euthynnus affinis), locally known as tulingan . Researchers at the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC/AQD) in Tigbauan, Iloilo recorded the first spawning in July 2025, with repeated spawning through September. The fish produced viable eggs and larvae—without hormone injections. This is good news for food security . It is good news for livelihood . And yes, it is good news for national pride . Never mind that SEAFDEC is an international organization rather than a Philippine government agency. What matters is that the breakthrough happened here, in the Philippines, and Filipino fisheries scientists were part of the research team. In...

CAN WE EXTINGUISH FIRES USING ACOUSTIC WAVES INSTEAD OF WATER? Since the beginning of civilization, mankind has been extinguishing fires using water. Of course, we now have foam, powders, gases and other chemicals, but water remains one of our principal weapons against fire. And now comes an interesting possibility: using sound waves to extinguish flames. Why is that important? Because water is becoming an increasingly precious commodity. During the 2024 El Niño, 131 Philippine LGUs declared a state of calamity, while some communities experienced serious water shortages. Can you imagine fighting a fire in the middle of a drought? That would indeed be a case of double jeopardy . Interestingly, this is not just science fiction. Research has already demonstrated that acoustic waves can extinguish flames by creating air movement and turbulence that destabilize the combustion process. Experiments have found effective suppression at low frequencies, including around 30–75 Hz, although the re...

COULD TAMARIND BE THE ANSWER TO THE MICROPLASTICS PROBLEM IN OUR OCEANS? Who could have imagined that an ingredient used to make our favorite sour soup could possibly help solve the problem of microplastics in our waters? Apparently, three 16-year-old Indian students did. Vivaan Chhawchharia, Ariana Agarwal and Avyana Mehta developed Plas-Stick , a biodegradable magnetic powder made from discarded tamarind seeds. In May 2026, their invention became the first Indian team to win The Earth Prize , a global environmental competition for young people. The powder causes microplastics in water to clump together, after which the clumps can be removed with a handheld magnet.  Now, before we get too excited, there is an important qualification: this is not yet a magic powder that can simply be thrown into the Pacific Ocean . The technology has been developed primarily for contained water, particularly rural drinking-water applications. Putting a flocculant into the open ocean without a way o...

IS IT POSSIBLE TO CLOSE LANDFILLS AND DUMPSITES ONE HUNDRED PERCENT? No, that is not a hypothetical question, because it has already actually happened in Tilos, Greece. Tilos is a small island in the Dodecanese with a relatively small population. Yet through the Just Go Zero Tilos program, its old landfill was shut down and transformed into a Circular Innovation Centre. Public waste bins were removed and households and businesses began segregating their waste at source, followed by door-to-door collection. The reported recovery rate has exceeded 85 percent, with the program designed to recover all waste streams.  So, what can we learn from Tilos? The first principle that comes to my mind is subsidiarity . Simply stated, problems should be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority. Higher authorities should do what lower authorities cannot effectively do. The second principle is “Small Is Beautiful,” the idea associated with economist E. F. Schumache...