YAHOO PH:
Pearl farmers take much pride in saying pearls are the most environment-friendly gems: They grow only in the cleanest and nutrient-rich waters.
It's no accident, then, that pearl farmers are some of the staunchest proponents of marine conservation and protection. Their livelihood depends on it.
Jewelmer, the homegrown jeweler known worldwide for the golden South Sea pearl, is one such entity. Marine conservation for this company goes beyond corporate social responsibility program; it's a way of life.
Jacques Branellec, managing director and co-founder of Jewelmer, invoked karma in his speech at a symposium on marine conservation last week .
"It applies both to your personal life and interaction with nature," he said. "There's no action or inaction that doesn't generate a reaction from nature."
Scientific paper
The symposium at Hotel Intercontinental in Makati drew environmentalists, academics and bureaucrats. It presented the scientific paper of Dr. Kent E. Carpenter, a professor of biological sciences at the Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, underscoring the urgent need for "conservation at the Philippine Epicenter of Marine Biodiversity."
Carpenter was the co-author of a 2005 study that proved the Philippine Islands is "The center of the center of marine shore fish biodiversity."
That's not a typo error: The second "center" refers to the coral triangle, the eco-region spanning Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines that has the richest number of marine species in the world.
Further studies conducted by Carpenter and other scientists proved that the Philippines is the center of that center, having the highest number of species endemic to the country.
The result was a surprise. Owing to its geographic location, it was expected that eastern Indonesia would be center of the center by virtue of its proximity to the Equator. One scientist, according to Carpenter, set out to disprove the findings only to end up proving it right.
Carpenter and his team of scientists set out to answer why this is so. In summary, they have found the Philippines to have unique geological and oceanographic features, having a diversity of habitats that makes it an "area of refuge" for marine species. This proved their hypothesis that the Philippines is a "center of origin" where species evolve.
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Information Courtesy of Yahoo News / Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
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