The UP Diliman Trees Up Close and Personal

I always say that any lecture with beautiful pictures and slides will not beat one which will bring you to the subject up close. I know that pictures could really say a thousand words, but the real thing could probably say it straight to the point, requiring lesser prose in the process. This is all so true in any tree lecture. The best way to appreciate and learn about trees is to walk through and among them, to examine, feel, touch, smell and even taste every tree's parts.

Last Saturday, about fifty people took part in the very first U.P. Diliman Native tree walk conducted by members of the Philippine Native Plant Conservation Society. The walk which started from the foot of the famous Oblation, took participants from the sidelines of University Avenue, to the canopy cover of the UP lagoon, the Palma Hall pavilion trees and the MSI plot of Professor Ed Gomez. It took 3 hours to cover as much as 50 tree species including notable ones like ilang-ilang, antipolo, kalumpang, narra, dita, etc. I personally acted as tour guide and tried to serve everyone who joined with names, identification tips and cultural tidbits about the important native trees as well as the lesser (in my words, 'nevermind trees', hehehe) pertinent exotic species. I believe everyone left with a much better understanding on what trees are truly residents of our beloved Philippines, our real kababayans. But sadly we did not have time to cover other trees in areas like the Beta way, the Main Library, the colleges around sunken garden, the U.P. church, and Alumni Center. This would probably mean that there would be a second one to be conducted soon (hint!).

To all who joined the very first U.P. Diliman tree walk, my deepest gratitude for coming and learning more about native trees!