VZCZCXRO7410
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHFK RUEHHM RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHPB
DE RUEHML #0965/01 1260822
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 060822Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY MANILA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4020
RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHZU/APEC COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 000965 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR OES 
BANGKOK FOR REO HHOWARD 
 
REF: A) MANILA 906 B) MANILA 942 C) MANILA 214 D) MANILA 248 E) 2007 
MANILA 3482 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KSCA SENV ENRG TRGY TSPA EAGR RP
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MANILA'S ENVIRONMENTAL OUTREACH 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY: Mission Manila engaged in vigorous outreach efforts on 
an array of environmental issues during April 2009. Ambassador led 
the way with two provincial trips in April with an environmental 
focus and events in Manila on Earth Day, April 22.  In addition, 
Embassy invited American scientists to talk about local 
biodiversity; the Coral Triangle Initiative; and the relation 
between pollution and global climate change.  Our public relations 
successes included several prominent media reports and the Asian 
premier on Earth Day of "Into the Abyss", an Embassy-assisted 
National Geographic documentary on Philippine waters.  Our 
environment and science public outreach has strengthened bilateral 
relationships; given Filipinos pride in their country's endowments; 
inspired better environmental stewardship; created forums for 
talented scientists and U.S. government-funded projects; and given 
us greater access to government officials and civil society leaders. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
U.S. Environmental Commitment 
----------------------------- 
 
¶2.  During April, Ambassador energized some of the Philippines' most 
senior attorneys and judges in Baguio at the Philippine Supreme 
Court's Forum on Environmental Justice (Ref. A). She also met with 
civic and governmental leaders in Puerto Princesa who play key roles 
in environmental advocacy (Ref. B).  On Earth Day itself, Ambassador 
participated with USAID Mission members in hand-washing 
demonstrations at the Coca-Cola bottling plant and with the 
"EcoDefenders" at a Mall of Asia event (Septel). 
 
Land Biodiversity a Surprise to Many 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶3.  Other Mission events also highlighted the environment.  Field 
Museum Mammal Curator Dr. Laurence Heaney surprised many people in 
his audiences with his well-documented assertion that the 
Philippines has the world's greatest terrestrial diversity per 
hectare.  Dr. Heaney has been coming to the Philippines annually for 
over 20 years to collect samples for the Philippine National Museum 
and document the country's rich terrestrial biodiversity.  He noted 
that the Philippines has 1,139 species and 50% are unique to the 
Philippines, compared to Brazil's 3,131 species, 25% of which are 
endemic.  To put that in perspective, Heaney explained, Brazil has 
27 times the land mass as the Philippines.  Heaney's talk made front 
page news in the Sunday, April 5 edition of the Philippine Inquirer, 
one of the largest circulation daily newspapers. 
 
Marine Diversity Better Known 
----------------------------- 
 
¶4.  The Philippines is at the apex of the coral triangle, which is 
the center of global marine biodiversity.  Dr. Kent Carpenter of Old 
Dominion University was a Peace Corp volunteer in the Philippines in 
the 1970s and has been investigating the biology of Philippine 
waters since then.  Dr. Carpenter addressed Manila university 
students, scientists, and government officials about the rich 
species diversity which includes 600 reef-building coral species and 
3,000 fish species.  He talked about the threats killing the coral 
and said sedimentation caused by illegal logging and slash-and- burn 
agriculture is the major cause of coral mortality.  Dr. Carpenter 
promoted the Coral Triangle Initiative, and international effort to 
save marine biodiversity, financed by over $40 million USG funds 
(Ref. C).   The Manila Bulletin and the Philippine Inquirer both 
covered Dr. Carpenter's talk and interviewed him. 
 
Climate Change 
-------------- 
 
¶5.  As inhabitants of an island nation vulnerable to sea level rise, 
Filipinos are concerned about global warming.  This concern drew 
members of academia and civil society to listen to the U.S. Office 
of Naval Research's Dr. Jeff Reid talk at Ateneo University about 
air pollution, as measured by six NASA satellites that circle the 
earth twice a day.  Because of the cloud cover in Asia, this area of 
the world is hard to monitor via satellite, according to Dr. Reid. 
To address this challenge, NASA installed a monitor at Manila 
Observatory to measure aerosols (Ref. D), giving scientists data for 
meteorology, hydrology, and pollution studies.  More information on 
this project is found at: 
http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/aerosol/#satellite analyses 
 
Asian Premier of National Geographic Special 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  Embassy assisted a USG-funded National Geographic deep sea 
exploration that documented new species in Philippine waters in 
October of 2007 (Ref. E).  National Geographic gave permission to 
 
MANILA 00000965  002 OF 002 
 
 
the EconOff to premier the documentary in Asia at Embassy Manila. 
Filipino scientists who participated, students, Embassy personnel, 
and Philippine government officials were delighted by the ocean 
secrets revealed during the screening at the Embassy on Earth Day, 
April 22.  The documentary's trailer may be viewed at: 
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com  "Into the Abyss" 
Woods Hole, the world's largest private oceanographic institution, 
published an on-line article about this ocean exploration with 
photos: 
http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/ "Creatures of the Celebes Sea" 
 
KENNEY