The sound of a revving machine broke the tranquility of the morning in the heart of the forest. “Men”, the wind whispered as the animals fled for their lives. The trees swayed in despair as the sound grew nearer and nearer. One by one life fell as men filled their pockets with riches of death.
Species by species, life on earth is being extinguished consistently by the hands of the supposed caretakers of nature. Some animals, those who once enjoyed freedom and now face annihilation, count their days inside fences but some unlucky ones stopped counting and are now living in books under the extinct category.
Everything is connected with each other through the unseen thread that bonds every life in the planet. As lives are being eradicated in the world, the balance that holds the thread together deteriorates, as a result, humanity faces the consequences.
To address the growing problems regarding biodiversity, United Nations acted by declaring May 22 as the International Day for Biological Diversity. Today, May 22, 2019, the world celebrates the 26th International Day for Biological Diversity with the theme “Our Biodiversity, Our Food, Our Health”.
About forty-minute drive from the heart of city “Where Nature Begins and Never Ends”, a farm resides deep into the nature, far from the busy and noisy streets, in Barangay Bacungan, Puerto Princesa City. Yamang Bukid Farm celebrates International Day for Biological Diversity through an eco-friendly activity.
“Kami (Yamang Bukid Farm) ay naniniwala na and sustainability ng sangkatauhan ay umaasa sa tamang pangangalaga sa mga life support system ng sanlibutan na kung saan ang buhay-ilang ay sentro ng lahat,” said Daniel Anjan, Operations General Manager of Yamang Bukid Farm.
The activity was joined by a variety of people; soldiers, farmers, and government officials from various government agencies, all held hands to embrace biodiversity.
One of the highlights of the activity is “The Web of Life” which conveys the story of the interconnections of everything. The presentation of the story is participated by all of the participants. The story is interactive and the participants held unto threads that represent a certain aspect of nature with the representation of the world in the middle.
The story started with the wonders of earth which is full of life until man came to earth. A box representing the humanity was positioned on top of the symbol of the earth.
The story continued. Men saw the wonders of the world, needs and wants of the people arose so men started to harass the environment until one by one, the threads fell. Forests, plants, animals, ocean and even the air are diminishing, the balance is broken.
Quivering, the world is shaking with fear as men lay waste on the planet until the last thread remained, men. Since everything’s gone, men felt the pain, men faced the reality that they are killing themselves with the abuse they’ve done until their thread fell, and everything’s gone now.
If humanity will hold on tight with these threads through campaigns, activities and advocacies, life will not fall due to the chain reaction of mistakes. If man saves the environment, man can feed their children with the blessings of nature where the true natural medicines reside.
The program of Yamang Bukid also highlights the tree planting activity and the farm immersion.
Participants were able to plant vegetables in Yamang Bukid Farm with the farm immersion activity. Farmers of Yamang Bukid assisted and taught the participants how to properly plant vegetables.
During the Earth Day celebration last month, April 22, Yamang Bukid also held a Tree Planting activity where participants were able to plant a thousand tree saplings.
Some farmers also displayed their talents during the activity and had an intermission dance number. There are around 200 workers in the farm and some of the farmers are engaging in illegal logging prior to their employment in Yamang Bukid Farm.
“Sobrang pasasalamat ko po dahil talagang nakikita po natin ngayon ‘yung dating mga iligalista, ngayon po, kasama na natin sa pagbabago ng sistema,” Anjan said.
Yamang Bukid promotes the importance biodiversity to provide a better future for the generations to come. A good biodiversity provides great supply of healthy food. Through movements like this International Day for Biological Diversity, with organizations and businesses like Yamang Bukid Farm will promote change, people can save the world.
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