Five more representatives from disaster risk reduction management-related organizations delivered separate talks during the afternoon session of the UPLB Museum of Natural History’s webinar “Future-proofing Museums: Protecting the Heritage of Natural History and Cultural Collection from Disasters and Other Risks”

The webinar, held on 30 July 2021 via online video conference was co-sponsored by the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property and the Escuela Taller de Filipinas Foundation, Inc. It emphasized the importance of disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) among museums in the Philippines in observance of the National Disaster Resilience Month.

The first speaker, Dr. Ma. Mylene M. Villegas, Chief of the DOST-PHIVOLCS Geologic Disaster Awareness and Preparedness Division was able to present “Disaster Resiliency through Understanding Geologic Hazards” through a video recording.

As the National Disaster Resiliency Month drew to a close on 30 July 2021, close to 100 people representing about 60 museums and collections, museum foundations, and disaster-risk reduction coordinating organizations converged together in an online webinar-workshop hosted by the UPLB Museum of Natural History.

Co-sponsored by the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property and the Escuela Taller de Filipinas Foundation, Inc., the whole day webinar emphasized the importance of disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) among museums in the Philippines.

In his welcome remarks, UPLB Chancellor Jose V. Camacho expressed that the learning event is both responsive and refreshing.

“As we are all aware, various risks and disasters about in our archipelago, especially now that we have entered the rainy typhoon season, hence we should all be prepared to respond to the dangers to precious museum collections.”

Cristian Lucañas, research associate at the UPLB Museum of Natural History, has just recently published in the Journal of Natural History (https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2021.1928317) a new genus of cockroach, Bundoksia, along with a new species under it. The new genus, according to Lucanas, is placed in the Family Blattidae, but due to conflicting characters, weren't classified to any subfamily.

The new genus Bundoksia, according to Lucañas, is actually a result of a taxonomic resolution of a species which has been described more than a century ago.

"In 1910, British entomologist Robert Walter Campbell Shelford described a species of cockroach from the Philippines based on a single female specimen and named it Blatta rufocercata," he recounted.

"No additional specimens were collected after that and its name remained unchanged until Kārlis Princis, a Latvian-Swedish entomologist, transferred B. rufocercata to a mostly African genus, Cartoblatta, based on the shortened wings of the female," Lucañas explained.

In a new article published in Check List (https://doi.org/10.15560/17.3.917), museum researchers co-wrote a new record of the presence of Hoya sipitangensis in the Philippines, specifically, Palawan Island. The team included UPLB assistant professor Marjorie D. delos Angeles and MNH research associate Cristian C. Lucañas and curator Prof. Annalee S. Hadsall.

According Hadsall, H. sipitangensis was only previously reported from where they were originally found - Sipitang, Sabah, Borneo; and Seria, Belait, Brunei.

“In Borneo, it was discovered in 2002 and named as H. sipitangensis; while in Brunei, it was first named as H. yapianum in 2010” she clarified. In 2016, however, H. yapianum was synonymized to H. sipitangensis on the basis that “the differences are part of the natural variation of the latter.”

“While on fieldwork in Palawan, we saw H. sipitangensis among branches of trees which formed dense canopies,” Prof. Marjorie D. delos Angeles, a botanist from the UPLB Institute of Biological Sciences and lead author of the new record said.

Researchers from the UPLB Museum of Natural History discussed their objectives and plans during the launching on 14 June 2021 of the Center for Cave Ecosystems Research (CAVES) Program which is being funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) NICER Program.

Led by Dr. Juan Carlos T. Gonzalez, museum curator for birds and CAVES program leader, the project proponents gave overviews on the general focus of their respective researches.

Dr. Ireneo L. Lit, Jr., curator for scale insects and other terrestrial arthropods and CAVES Project 3 leader, gave an introduction to cave ecology and biodiversity research. He discussed on caves in the biological sense and the effect of light availability and temperature on the presence and lives of organisms inside caves.

“Because of unique conditions inside caves, the become refuge for several unique species and because the Philippines has an estimated 1,500-2,000 caves, they are considered as unique, natural and non-renewable resources with very important scientific, economic, educational, cultural, historical and aesthetic values,” he said.

In simple ceremonies held via videoconferencing, the UPLB Museum of Natural History, with the support of its partners and stakeholders, launched today the Center for Cave Ecosystems Research (CAVES), a three-year, P 40M research program funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) NICER Program.

The NICER (Niche Centers in the Regions for R&D) Program is a component of the Science for Change Program (S4CP) of the DOST which aims to accelerate the capacity building of R&D institutions and industrial competitiveness in the regions.

The opening program was attended by key officials from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR)-CALABARZON and more than 150 participants from the academe and government sectors.