Manila: An international group of scientists vowed to push for legislated protection of Philippine land and marine species and their environment, adding this will lead to wider research and discovery of more and new species in the Philippines, noted as one of the world's most highly-diversified countries, an environment website said.
"We are hoping the findings (that we made in 42 days of expedition in southern Luzon) will result in recommendations that will translate into policies that will produce a more sustainable future for Filipinos while simultaneously protecting the unique biodiversity (of their country)," Terrence Gosliner, dean of science and research collections at the California Academy of Sciences and head of the joint US-Philippine expedition, told LiveScience.com.
This will nurture the evolution of some 300 species found by American and Filipinos scientists from the Californian Academy of Sciences and the University of the Philippines in the mountains and bodies of water in southern Luzon from March to June, Gosliner explained.
Reforestation must be done on all mountains nationwide; and more marine protected areas must be established or expanded, Gosliner said.
The 60-million year old deepwater channel of Verde Island off Batangas Bay in southern Luzon has allowed the evolution of more species, gushed Gosliner, adding the haven for deep sea divers and scientists like him should know that it has more species than any other environment on earth.
"This expedition has led us to want to undertake more expeditions to the Philippines in other unexplored areas," Gosliner confessed.
Recalling his thoughts at the start of the research last March, Gosliner said, "I thought it would be great to bring a large team of researchers together to study from mountaintops to the deep sea, to determine if all of these places harbor new species. I was delighted that my hunch proved to be correct."
Gosliner will definitely surprise attendees of the weekly event of the California Academy of Sciences, where he was scheduled to make a presentation of the joint expedition's findings in the Philippines on June 30.
Scientists who participated in the diversity expedition have already identified in initial reports, the exotic finds, one of which was a shark with camouflaged pattern on its skin, which could drink water in order to increase its body size when predators were around.
Their long list included a cicada with bubbling laughter; a crab with dangerous pincers that sported needle-like teeth; dozens of new insects and spiders; 50 colourful new sea slugs; a tiny pipefish found among colonies of soft coral; a snake eel from the deep ocean bed; goblin spiders; pea urchin; and a few millimeter-long barnacle.
Scientists also found the ancient spikemoss at the foot of Mount Isarog in Albay, the Bicol Region.
Prior to the joint expedition of American and Filipino scientists, Gosliner said he has been doing his own research in the Philippines for 20 years.
