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PH’s best-managed MPAs recognized in Para El MAR 2025
ILOILO CITY, PHILIPPINES— “Let Para el MAR be a space for collaboration, learning, and renewed hope.” These were the words of Ms. Edwina Garchitorena, Country Director of the Zoological Society of London-Philippines to officially open the 2025 Para el MAR celebration themed, Bantay Karagatan, Bantay Kinabukasan: Local Action for Biodiversity and the Future. The 10th Para el MAR (MPA Awards & Recognition), organized by the Marine Protected Area Support Network (MSN) and coinciding with the network’s 20th anniversary, was held on September 17–18, 2025, at the Zuri Hotel in Iloilo City, drawing over 200 participants.
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UP MSI, UPLB-INREM, and UP IMLOS advance natural capital accounting efforts through the RE-INVEST WPS Program Workshop
Featured photo: Attendees of the “Laying the Foundation for Natural Capital Accounting for the West Philippine Sea” workshop. “We measure what matters so that we can defend what lasts.” – Senior Associate…
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UP MSI to establish PH’s first coral cryobank facility for coral restoration
Featured photo: FOR CORAL RESTORATION. Pocillopora is one of the Pocilloporid corals that is targeted for larvae cryopreservation. As coral reefs face increasing threats from climate change and human activity, the UP…
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Bienson Ceasar De Vera Narvarte, PhD, Named Most Outstanding PhD Graduate and Dr. Edgardo D. Gomez Awardee
Featured photo: Ben on the Rise. Bienson Ceasar De Vera Narvarte addressing his fellow graduates in his speech at the College of Science Recognition Rites. Bienson Ceasar De Vera Narvarte, PhD, received…
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West Philippine Sea and Benham Bank soft corals are among most diverse in the world
FEATURED PHOTO: The pulse coral Xenia sp. in Puerto Galera, Occidental Mindoro. Soft corals, which are members of the class Octocorallia, are major components of marine ecosystems, including coral reefs. They are…
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Benham Bank—one of PH’s richest deep coral ecosystems
Near the eastern coast of Luzon, Philippines, located 50 meters below the sea surface, is the Benham Bank, an underwater seamount taller than Mt. Apo. Benham Bank contains one of the richest…
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UP MSI participates in M/V DA-BFAR Demersal Stock Assessment and Oceanographic Survey in Visayan and Samar Sea
Researchers from the UP Marine Science Institute, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture – Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) research vessel, M/V DA-BFAR, participated in the recently concluded Visayan…
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Message of Gratitude for Outgoing DENR Secretary Ma. Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga
The UP Marine Science Institute expresses our gratitude to outgoing DENR Secretary Ma. Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga.
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UP, DENR-BMB, and NAVMETOC conduct research at the West Philippine Sea
Reef wall at Rizal Reef. Photo by Eena Nuevas. A team of 15 researchers and staff from UP MSI, UP Cebu, DENR-BMB, and NAVMETOC conducted a research expedition aboard the UP MSI…
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Biodiversity Research Continues in Pag-asa Island, West Philippine Sea
FEATURED PHOTO: The April 2025 Pag-asa Island Expedition Team. (Left to Right, Top to Bottom) Lorenz Cajilig, Hannah Grace Siena (DENR-BMB), Claude Michael G. Salva, Fernando Castrence, Jeffrey Munar, Aubrey Abadiano, Kametchi…
