Dear Friends at Bibaknets,
In 2005, I decided to leave my journalism Reinhard Mohn Fellowship at Germany to work on a native tree which I believed would one day provide rural folks a sustainable alternative energy. I refer to the petroleum nut (Pitosporum resineferum) which grows in the Cordillera region but sadly now are very few because their natural habitat continue to be destroyed. I have read an article in the Canopy publication of the Forest Research Institute dated 1982 that it was impossible to grow the tree from seeds that is why FORI (now ERDS of DENR used cuttings and planted these in Loakan). Being an agriculturist, I wanted to find out. I harvested a few seeds at Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya. I plantied the seeds in various media but also failed. After four months, I was only able to grow 23 which I planted in my house in Longlong and farm in Tublay. These are now 5 years old and ready to bear fruit.
After a year, I discovered why it was difficult to plant the seeds. Correcting earlier untried research efforts, I was able to raise more than 10,000 seedlings. I meticulously recorded all my research activities and after two years I was ready to distribute thousands of seedlings to farmers.
Why did I bother about the tree? Because of three reasons. First, it will provide rural-dwelling Filipinos an alternative and ustainable source of fuel to replace expensive and vanishing fossil fuel. Secondly, when people plant the tree to harvest its fruits for oil, there will be less cutting of trees for fuelwood or firewood because rural families will now use oil from the petroleum nut for cooking and lighting. Third, the more people will plant petroleum nut to get more oil for socio-economic needs, the more trees there will be to serve as carbon sink and help prevent global warming.
When I made my discoveries, I went to several government agencies but they were not interested. So I continued my work alone. Today, I am happy to tell you that I and my small team have successfully been able to:
1) Test and prove that the petroleum nut oil can replace LPG and kerosene for cooking
2) It can replace kerosene for lighting.
3) It can run small one stroke engine and even a small water pump.
Fueld by our discovereries, we wrote several international organizations. Many responded and bared how they would help us, indicating the large economic potential of the tree. A Singaporean, a Japnese and five European organizations continue to pursue us in a joint venture.
However, we have chosen one institution because of one reason. We have chosen to forge a working relationship with the University of Tennessee because they are the only group which assured us that they will help us protect the patent rights of the tree from going into the control of biopirates, something we wanted to be assured of from all those who made an offer. In my presentation to the Benguet Provincial Board who asked me to orient them on the tree, I mentioned that it was not only important to conserve and propagate the tree but to protect it from exploiters. The university will help us on this item aside from doing the laboratory work on the potential of the tree to replace diesel and gasoline as fuel.
Before we arrived at our research results, I approached some government institutions for help but they gave me the cold shoulder. In fact, one institution-- an agricultural university--, to my consternation, is trying to duplicate our efforts.
On February 23, I will divulge to a group of top agribusiness companies (the Management Assn. of the Philippines), in Makatai the efforts done on the tree. This group wants to support a national conservation and production program for the petroleum nut. On March 7, I and representatives from University of Tennessee will hold a press conference and explain what we intend to do with our joint efforts and the results.
We will keep you updated and I trust our efforts will redown into helping our brothers and sisters in rural areas in the Cordillera region, and in other parts of the country, especially our farmers and of course in protecting our ecosystms and our indigenous resource properties and rights.
Michael A. Bengwayan
In 2005, I decided to leave my journalism Reinhard Mohn Fellowship at Germany to work on a native tree which I believed would one day provide rural folks a sustainable alternative energy. I refer to the petroleum nut (Pitosporum resineferum) which grows in the Cordillera region but sadly now are very few because their natural habitat continue to be destroyed. I have read an article in the Canopy publication of the Forest Research Institute dated 1982 that it was impossible to grow the tree from seeds that is why FORI (now ERDS of DENR used cuttings and planted these in Loakan). Being an agriculturist, I wanted to find out. I harvested a few seeds at Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya. I plantied the seeds in various media but also failed. After four months, I was only able to grow 23 which I planted in my house in Longlong and farm in Tublay. These are now 5 years old and ready to bear fruit.
After a year, I discovered why it was difficult to plant the seeds. Correcting earlier untried research efforts, I was able to raise more than 10,000 seedlings. I meticulously recorded all my research activities and after two years I was ready to distribute thousands of seedlings to farmers.
Why did I bother about the tree? Because of three reasons. First, it will provide rural-dwelling Filipinos an alternative and ustainable source of fuel to replace expensive and vanishing fossil fuel. Secondly, when people plant the tree to harvest its fruits for oil, there will be less cutting of trees for fuelwood or firewood because rural families will now use oil from the petroleum nut for cooking and lighting. Third, the more people will plant petroleum nut to get more oil for socio-economic needs, the more trees there will be to serve as carbon sink and help prevent global warming.
When I made my discoveries, I went to several government agencies but they were not interested. So I continued my work alone. Today, I am happy to tell you that I and my small team have successfully been able to:
1) Test and prove that the petroleum nut oil can replace LPG and kerosene for cooking
2) It can replace kerosene for lighting.
3) It can run small one stroke engine and even a small water pump.
Fueld by our discovereries, we wrote several international organizations. Many responded and bared how they would help us, indicating the large economic potential of the tree. A Singaporean, a Japnese and five European organizations continue to pursue us in a joint venture.
However, we have chosen one institution because of one reason. We have chosen to forge a working relationship with the University of Tennessee because they are the only group which assured us that they will help us protect the patent rights of the tree from going into the control of biopirates, something we wanted to be assured of from all those who made an offer. In my presentation to the Benguet Provincial Board who asked me to orient them on the tree, I mentioned that it was not only important to conserve and propagate the tree but to protect it from exploiters. The university will help us on this item aside from doing the laboratory work on the potential of the tree to replace diesel and gasoline as fuel.
Before we arrived at our research results, I approached some government institutions for help but they gave me the cold shoulder. In fact, one institution-- an agricultural university--, to my consternation, is trying to duplicate our efforts.
On February 23, I will divulge to a group of top agribusiness companies (the Management Assn. of the Philippines), in Makatai the efforts done on the tree. This group wants to support a national conservation and production program for the petroleum nut. On March 7, I and representatives from University of Tennessee will hold a press conference and explain what we intend to do with our joint efforts and the results.
We will keep you updated and I trust our efforts will redown into helping our brothers and sisters in rural areas in the Cordillera region, and in other parts of the country, especially our farmers and of course in protecting our ecosystms and our indigenous resource properties and rights.
Michael A. Bengwayan
2 comments:
Hope I can find ways to help...Thank you for thinking about future generations of Filipinos...
I got word of your work from Bob Ocio
Andres Isabelo Roberto Y. Moran
Facebook: aymoran_v@yahoo.com
Hope I can find ways to help...Thank you for protecting future generations of Filipinos. I heard of your work from Bob Ocio.
Iniibig ang Pilipinas!
Andy Moran
Facebook: aymoran_v@yahoo.com
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