Reaction Paper: Talk on Birds

2010-07915

Ongsyping, Anderson S.

       In this talk, the richness and biodiversity of birds can be found in UP. More than 50 species of birds have been sighted all around the campus. According to the speaker, one of the major reasons of this phenomena is the abundance of wildlife in UP. There are very many trees all throughout the campus, each tree attracting specific kinds of birds. Fruits bore by trees attract the birds very much. Compared to other places in Metro Manila, UP can be counted as one of the most ‘eco-friendly’ for birds. Aside from the most common bird, the Maya bird, other common birds such as the Shrike, Orion, Woodpecker, and Blue Rock Thrush can be found on different parts of the campus. Some of these birds are said to migrate to the Philippines and can be found occasionally at UP. One of the most important things I learned in this talk is the importance of the ecosystem to sustain animals such as uncommon birds. Given that we stay in an urban setting, the smoke and damages made my human society prevent wildlife from flourishing in these areas. However, UP has preserved its natural environment, and that attracts a lot of birds that are otherwise inhabitable in the city area. Most if not all birds depend on a sustainable ecosystem, and that is one important challenge for us to make. We should do our part to preserve nature and mother Earth. Because of greed and the inclination to progress, we have forgotten to appreciate the beauty that is found in nature. Preservation, then, is necessary to keep the birds around UP and even further, to keep them from possible extinction. Respect to nature is also a must both to animals and plants. The truth of the matter is that preserving wildlife also helps business grow, so it is in fact a win-win scenario. With all these said, we have the responsibility of protecting UP from projects that endanger the loss of the wildlife it once had.

       Relating this to my field in Electrical Engineering, we were taught by our professors that the electric cables used throughout the campus is different from ordinary cables used by companies such as Meralco. The cables used here is much expensive than regular cables because it was decided not to cut down the trees where cables will stretch. Because of this, the wires have to have added insulation (thus more expensive), thus providing reliability for us (continuous service of electricity protecting us from unwanted faults when the trees come in contact with the wires) without having to destroy nature. If more projects like this is proposed, this proves that we, as man, can also coexist with nature and protect wildlife. This way, birds will still continue to grow in numbers even in an urban setting.