Save the Philippine Ironwood et al!
Donation protected
Save the Philippine Ironwood “Stronger than Steel!”
and other hardwoods from extinction!
Join the Call!
The Philippine Ironwood - Mangkono - Xanthosthemon verdugonianus
Some years ago in 2015, I Lauri M. Oikarinen, an Environmental Planner from Finland discovered super quality hardwood trees while looking for the best renewable local construction materials in Palawan for a Self-Sufficient House - just to find out they are already gone! Just 20 years ago you could have built your house from 70-years-lasting super-durable Hardwood…
In a desperate one-man-effort I tried to find a way to protect something nobody seemed to be interested in: the most valuable Philippine endemic hardwood species – jewels of nature. With 4 inspired Palawan locals we founded: Saving the Wonder Trees Inc. I have started all of this with my own funds and sweat in the jungle.
Since 1960s almost all of the Philippine forest cover in general has been lost. BUT even the remaining forests are nearly completely “stripped off” from the valuable species due to decades of selective logging; and illegal logging is a common treat even after total logging bans were set by the Philippine government in 1990s. Decline of the Philippine Forests: Source: Environmental Science for Social Change (ESSC) 1999: http://essc.org.ph/content/decline-of-the-philippine-forest/
The valuable and critically endangered species include two Ebony species called “The Black Beauty” as well as the Philippine national tree Narra, Ipil, Ironwood & Malabayabas plus 20 other even more unknown species.
Bulong-ita “The Black Beauty” – the other Ebony Tree of the Philippines - Diospyros pilosanthera
Kamagong – The Ebony Tree of the Philippines - Diospyros philippinensis
The name Kamagong is usually always used for all the Ebony Trees and nobody knows Bulong-ita being another species. Even Kamagong has actually 30+ subspecies that nobody is aware of! These are the MOST CRITICALLY ENDANGERED SPECIES...
As an environmentalist I cannot let these super valuable trees go extinct like this! Nobody is acting… When I found out the real situation it broke my heart.
After learning about the strength and durability of these species, I wanted to personally see these trees.
That proved out to be very hard, as most people do not even recognize these species anymore...
So, I had to arrange a scouting survey (sweat days in the jungle and pay all the costs from my own pockets) to find out how many are actually remaining. Only rumors were heard about the possible locations. Luckily enough we found some scattered great individual trees and very few small areas with significant amounts of these species in natural stand in Palawan Island! Unfortunately, these small areas are under immense treat of immediate illegal logging…
Since then, I’ve been doing all I can to reverse this and prevent the extinction, if I can. But one man cannot save all the Palawan hardwood species! Together we CAN, if you help me. We need to do it together. Please help us to acquire these key-biotype areas for permanent protection before it is too late…
We are now working to raise funds to save these hardwood species and start propagating them back to all Philippine islands that have already been stripped off their majesty. We are opening our first fundraiser campaign right NOW.
We need at least 20,000€ to protect the first remaining natural habitat, establish a nursery and reforestation program with our seedling production. This is just 3 334 x 2 of us chipping in 3€ each. We just need your help to do it! Please help us before it’s too late…
We must all work together to make this a thousand-people effort and bring back alive the greatest Natural Resource of the Philippines: The Philippine Endemic Hardwood Species of Great Beauty with Superior Durability & Strength! These trees are a “Carbon Dioxide Sink”, being so heavy they will bind huge amounts of CO2 every year. You can significantly offset CO2-emissions by helping us plant more hardwood trees!
Join Our Call! Volunteer and Donate Today anything you can!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We have already collected and sown few thousands of Mangkono and hundreds of other hardwood seeds. They are waiting for germination.
We already have in stock around 1,200 seedlings of Mangkono, 1,800 Malabayabas, 2,000 White Nato and some Ipil, Bogo, Amugis, Mountain Agoho and Narra. We are constantly looking to expand our variety of species and get more to plant.
Mangkono on left and Malabayabas on right side.
All our seedlings will be planted in the beginning of the rainy season in June 2018.
We will most likely be able to plant also some Beach Agoho, Akle and Molave.
Even more if you help us.
We really need all your help, because it's very hard to find some of the most valuable species! We are super lucky to have found the 2 strongest and hardest woods: Mangkono and Malabayabas. Thanks to our native guides for that.
BUT!
We are missing the 2 Ebony trees yet! Kamagong and Bulong-eta are the true ebony trees of the Philippines and their seeds or seedlings have proven out to be extremely hard to find... So we need more funds on surveys and to hire more local guides to help find these jewels...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some samples of what work you can fund and how much it costs us:
* You can sponsor your own Hardwood Seedling and receive quarterly photo updates for just 200 Philippine pesos (ca 3€) per month contribution.
* Or you can sponsor 20 Hardwood Seedlings and follow quarterly update video updates on their growth! - for 600 pesos (9€) per month.
* You can also become one time yearly contributor to be a True Hardwood Protector - for 1,000 pesos (16€) per month contribution with all updates
or use this sample in the donation section for one time lump sum
* Alternatively, you can donate a lump sum of 15,000 pesos (234€) to become a Grand Hardwood Protector
* Sponsor Saving the Wonder Trees (SAWE)
If your company want to sponsor our efforts, you can choose to help plant 1 whole hectare of rare Philippine hardwoods species on a reforestation project and get the area named by you for 150,000 pesos (2,340€). We will add your company name and logo to be shown everywhere on our works. Please contact us for more information.
You can also help us to protect 1 hectare of remaining very rare hardwood natural habitat for 100,000 pesos (1,560€). You will receive special honor, your name and logo will be forever shown on the protected area lot and on our future efforts.
* Sponsor a local native Tagbanwa Ranger to survey, collect seeds & protect our trees and areas! For only 7,550 pesos (118€) per month you can make a real difference that lasts and gives the society the support they need. By employing the local indigenous people we can show them their livelihood will improve by helping us protect these majestic trees! This will strenghten their understanding and support to our cause. Poverty in the local society is the greatest cause for illegal logging.
Saving the Wonder Trees has a plan to employ many local people to Save, Protect, Propagate, Research and Educate about the endemic hardwood species of great value. This will make the community prosper greatly in the near future!
COSTS:
It costs us (all funds from Lauri's own pockets to this point, and it's not enough...)
350 pesos per day to hire a labourer for one day + gasoline for their motorbike when surveying or collecting.
We need equipment and materials for the nursery operations to grow seedlings from the seeds. The costs depend on amounts but we could get many many more seeds if we could afford to pay more workers.
When 2 collect and 2 do the potting, it costs us almost 2,000 pesos (31€) to run a whole day full-throttle in the nursery operations.
We also need to acquire the most important biotopes for protection and we need a vehicle to get to places. Our nursery in Apurawan is in rural area and without at least a motorbike nothing can be done.
A new suitable motorbike costs ca. 89,000 pesos (1,390€) + racks (ca. 4,000 pesos = 63€) to carry needed equipment.
A 4WD vehicle would be more needed but that costs 1,7M pesos (26,500€) new with all needed equpiment. A good second hand car is very hard to find in Palawan in a working condition for a reasonable price, so when shipped from Manila it is cheaper and would still cost ca 1M pesos 15,600€.
An ATV (quadbike) would be greatly needed, as we go to places where you cannot access even with a good off-road motorbike. But as above, we would need to buy and ship it from Manila for about 550,000 pesos (8,600€).
During the rainy season walking is the only way to get around but we can save half a day or more with a vehicle to get as close as possible. And when we start our planting activities, we can't do anything without a car or at least ATV...
We are very short-handed in resources and cannot operate more than a few full days per month at the moment. Please help us!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our first donations of seedlings went to our parter barangays local schools in Apurawan - Aborlan, Cabayugan - Puerto Princesa and Bacungan - Puerto Princesa in Palawan island Philippines.
Education and research are our other most important activities alongside of the most important protection and reforestation.
We will bring these marvels of nature back to be abundant once again in all their endemic regions of the Philippines, if it is up to us!
But it is impossible without your help... Thank you all for reading this!
With best regards,
Saving the Wonder Trees (SAWE) Inc.
Founder & President
Mr. Lauri M. Oikarinen Monday, March 12, 2018
Me and one extremely rare and beautiful Malabayabas - Tristania decortica - that has avoided illegal loggers this far. This is the close relative to the Ironwood. It is just as durable and almost as heavy and was widely used by the locals. But it is not known at all! We need to protect and research these ones before they are gone forever...
Please check our webpages for more information:
https://sawe2017.wixsite.com/savingthewondertrees
and
http://savingthewondertrees.org/
(reserved once we can afford to relocate our pages. Now all funds are used to collect seeds, grow seedlings, work the bureaucrazy and plant the endangered hardwood trees + educate the community!)
We are a Non-Profit Organization dedicated to Saving, Protecting, Propagating, Researching and Educating about the Philippine endemic Hardwood Species
Check our Mangkono planting video at:
http://sawe2017.wixsite.com/savingthewondertrees/activities
and other hardwoods from extinction!
Join the Call!
The Philippine Ironwood - Mangkono - Xanthosthemon verdugonianus
Some years ago in 2015, I Lauri M. Oikarinen, an Environmental Planner from Finland discovered super quality hardwood trees while looking for the best renewable local construction materials in Palawan for a Self-Sufficient House - just to find out they are already gone! Just 20 years ago you could have built your house from 70-years-lasting super-durable Hardwood…
In a desperate one-man-effort I tried to find a way to protect something nobody seemed to be interested in: the most valuable Philippine endemic hardwood species – jewels of nature. With 4 inspired Palawan locals we founded: Saving the Wonder Trees Inc. I have started all of this with my own funds and sweat in the jungle.
Since 1960s almost all of the Philippine forest cover in general has been lost. BUT even the remaining forests are nearly completely “stripped off” from the valuable species due to decades of selective logging; and illegal logging is a common treat even after total logging bans were set by the Philippine government in 1990s. Decline of the Philippine Forests: Source: Environmental Science for Social Change (ESSC) 1999: http://essc.org.ph/content/decline-of-the-philippine-forest/
The valuable and critically endangered species include two Ebony species called “The Black Beauty” as well as the Philippine national tree Narra, Ipil, Ironwood & Malabayabas plus 20 other even more unknown species.
Bulong-ita “The Black Beauty” – the other Ebony Tree of the Philippines - Diospyros pilosantheraKamagong – The Ebony Tree of the Philippines - Diospyros philippinensis The name Kamagong is usually always used for all the Ebony Trees and nobody knows Bulong-ita being another species. Even Kamagong has actually 30+ subspecies that nobody is aware of! These are the MOST CRITICALLY ENDANGERED SPECIES...
As an environmentalist I cannot let these super valuable trees go extinct like this! Nobody is acting… When I found out the real situation it broke my heart.
After learning about the strength and durability of these species, I wanted to personally see these trees.
That proved out to be very hard, as most people do not even recognize these species anymore...
So, I had to arrange a scouting survey (sweat days in the jungle and pay all the costs from my own pockets) to find out how many are actually remaining. Only rumors were heard about the possible locations. Luckily enough we found some scattered great individual trees and very few small areas with significant amounts of these species in natural stand in Palawan Island! Unfortunately, these small areas are under immense treat of immediate illegal logging…
Since then, I’ve been doing all I can to reverse this and prevent the extinction, if I can. But one man cannot save all the Palawan hardwood species! Together we CAN, if you help me. We need to do it together. Please help us to acquire these key-biotype areas for permanent protection before it is too late…
We are now working to raise funds to save these hardwood species and start propagating them back to all Philippine islands that have already been stripped off their majesty. We are opening our first fundraiser campaign right NOW.
We need at least 20,000€ to protect the first remaining natural habitat, establish a nursery and reforestation program with our seedling production. This is just 3 334 x 2 of us chipping in 3€ each. We just need your help to do it! Please help us before it’s too late…
We must all work together to make this a thousand-people effort and bring back alive the greatest Natural Resource of the Philippines: The Philippine Endemic Hardwood Species of Great Beauty with Superior Durability & Strength! These trees are a “Carbon Dioxide Sink”, being so heavy they will bind huge amounts of CO2 every year. You can significantly offset CO2-emissions by helping us plant more hardwood trees!
Join Our Call! Volunteer and Donate Today anything you can!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We have already collected and sown few thousands of Mangkono and hundreds of other hardwood seeds. They are waiting for germination.
We already have in stock around 1,200 seedlings of Mangkono, 1,800 Malabayabas, 2,000 White Nato and some Ipil, Bogo, Amugis, Mountain Agoho and Narra. We are constantly looking to expand our variety of species and get more to plant.
Mangkono on left and Malabayabas on right side.All our seedlings will be planted in the beginning of the rainy season in June 2018.
We will most likely be able to plant also some Beach Agoho, Akle and Molave.
Even more if you help us.
We really need all your help, because it's very hard to find some of the most valuable species! We are super lucky to have found the 2 strongest and hardest woods: Mangkono and Malabayabas. Thanks to our native guides for that.
BUT!
We are missing the 2 Ebony trees yet! Kamagong and Bulong-eta are the true ebony trees of the Philippines and their seeds or seedlings have proven out to be extremely hard to find... So we need more funds on surveys and to hire more local guides to help find these jewels...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some samples of what work you can fund and how much it costs us:
* You can sponsor your own Hardwood Seedling and receive quarterly photo updates for just 200 Philippine pesos (ca 3€) per month contribution.
* Or you can sponsor 20 Hardwood Seedlings and follow quarterly update video updates on their growth! - for 600 pesos (9€) per month.
* You can also become one time yearly contributor to be a True Hardwood Protector - for 1,000 pesos (16€) per month contribution with all updates
or use this sample in the donation section for one time lump sum
* Alternatively, you can donate a lump sum of 15,000 pesos (234€) to become a Grand Hardwood Protector
* Sponsor Saving the Wonder Trees (SAWE)
If your company want to sponsor our efforts, you can choose to help plant 1 whole hectare of rare Philippine hardwoods species on a reforestation project and get the area named by you for 150,000 pesos (2,340€). We will add your company name and logo to be shown everywhere on our works. Please contact us for more information.
You can also help us to protect 1 hectare of remaining very rare hardwood natural habitat for 100,000 pesos (1,560€). You will receive special honor, your name and logo will be forever shown on the protected area lot and on our future efforts.
* Sponsor a local native Tagbanwa Ranger to survey, collect seeds & protect our trees and areas! For only 7,550 pesos (118€) per month you can make a real difference that lasts and gives the society the support they need. By employing the local indigenous people we can show them their livelihood will improve by helping us protect these majestic trees! This will strenghten their understanding and support to our cause. Poverty in the local society is the greatest cause for illegal logging.
Saving the Wonder Trees has a plan to employ many local people to Save, Protect, Propagate, Research and Educate about the endemic hardwood species of great value. This will make the community prosper greatly in the near future!
COSTS:
It costs us (all funds from Lauri's own pockets to this point, and it's not enough...)
350 pesos per day to hire a labourer for one day + gasoline for their motorbike when surveying or collecting.
We need equipment and materials for the nursery operations to grow seedlings from the seeds. The costs depend on amounts but we could get many many more seeds if we could afford to pay more workers.
When 2 collect and 2 do the potting, it costs us almost 2,000 pesos (31€) to run a whole day full-throttle in the nursery operations.
We also need to acquire the most important biotopes for protection and we need a vehicle to get to places. Our nursery in Apurawan is in rural area and without at least a motorbike nothing can be done.
A new suitable motorbike costs ca. 89,000 pesos (1,390€) + racks (ca. 4,000 pesos = 63€) to carry needed equipment.
A 4WD vehicle would be more needed but that costs 1,7M pesos (26,500€) new with all needed equpiment. A good second hand car is very hard to find in Palawan in a working condition for a reasonable price, so when shipped from Manila it is cheaper and would still cost ca 1M pesos 15,600€.
An ATV (quadbike) would be greatly needed, as we go to places where you cannot access even with a good off-road motorbike. But as above, we would need to buy and ship it from Manila for about 550,000 pesos (8,600€).
During the rainy season walking is the only way to get around but we can save half a day or more with a vehicle to get as close as possible. And when we start our planting activities, we can't do anything without a car or at least ATV...
We are very short-handed in resources and cannot operate more than a few full days per month at the moment. Please help us!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our first donations of seedlings went to our parter barangays local schools in Apurawan - Aborlan, Cabayugan - Puerto Princesa and Bacungan - Puerto Princesa in Palawan island Philippines.
Education and research are our other most important activities alongside of the most important protection and reforestation.
We will bring these marvels of nature back to be abundant once again in all their endemic regions of the Philippines, if it is up to us!
But it is impossible without your help... Thank you all for reading this!
With best regards,
Saving the Wonder Trees (SAWE) Inc.
Founder & President
Mr. Lauri M. Oikarinen Monday, March 12, 2018
Me and one extremely rare and beautiful Malabayabas - Tristania decortica - that has avoided illegal loggers this far. This is the close relative to the Ironwood. It is just as durable and almost as heavy and was widely used by the locals. But it is not known at all! We need to protect and research these ones before they are gone forever...Please check our webpages for more information:
https://sawe2017.wixsite.com/savingthewondertrees
and
http://savingthewondertrees.org/
(reserved once we can afford to relocate our pages. Now all funds are used to collect seeds, grow seedlings, work the bureaucrazy and plant the endangered hardwood trees + educate the community!)
We are a Non-Profit Organization dedicated to Saving, Protecting, Propagating, Researching and Educating about the Philippine endemic Hardwood Species
Check our Mangkono planting video at:
http://sawe2017.wixsite.com/savingthewondertrees/activities
Organizer
Lauri Oikarinen
Organizer
Kuopio