By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

THE SOON-TO-BE opened Manila Ocean Park (MOP) has tied up with the conservation group World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines (WWF) largely to highlight public awareness, as well as to monitor the MOP’s adherence to local and international laws on animal acquisition and maintenance.

The partnership aims to strengthen the WWF’s public information on the protection of marine ecosystems in the Philippines through the educational materials provided by the MOP to visitors. The WWF will also ensure that the MOP does not include protected or endangered species of marine life as part of its exhibits.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

MOP president Lim Chee Yong told reporters that the park, which will open in February this year, has been given strict limitations not to include protected species of marine flora and fauna, which includes wild corals, sea turtles and all marine mammals.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

IN 1994, then US Vice President Al Gore and several high level government officials started the Global Learning and Observations to the Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program, whose goal is to encourage scientists worldwide to share their research with students through an online community. It was part of the Earth Day Celebrations for that year.

The GLOBE Program’s main goal is to provide information in the protection and conservation of the earth’s natural resources by encouraging current and future scientists to work together. Its founding members include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation.

But what sets the GLOBE Program apart from other scientific communities is that it allows students to directly contact scientists on specific topics in a sort of mentorship system. Likewise, students and their teachers can follow up on projects with their own researches, then upload the information they gather so as to contribute to the pool of knowledge on specific topics.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

TALK about a massive undertaking.

A free website will catalogue the planet’s 1.8 million known living creatures, allowing scientists from all over the world to collaborate online.

Here’s an excerpt from the Agence France-Presse article:

[Read the rest of this entry »]