29/01/2026
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๐จ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ญ
In the Philippines, biodiversity is not merely cataloged; it is contested. Nowhere is this more painfully evident than in the life and death of Leonardo L. Co, a botanist whose field notebooks carried plant names, not political manifestos, yet whose work was fatally misread as rebellion.
According to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Philippines is one of the 18 megadiverse countries, home to 70-80% of the worldโs plant and animal species. However, in various conservation assessments, many plant species remain undocumented even as deforestation, mining, and climate stress accelerate their disappearance. Leonardo Co belonged to this generation of field scientists racing against extinction, building baseline knowledge on which effective conservation depends.
One of his most enduring legacies is Coโs Digital Flora of the Philippines, a publicly accessible database established in his honor and developed through the collaborative efforts of botanists and researchers, bringing together tens of thousands of photographic records and species accounts from extensive field observations. This repository represents nearly half of the countryโs documented plant diversity and continues to be a critical resource for researchers, conservation planners, and restoration specialists (Philippine Plants Org, n.d.).
Coโs work emphasized that biodiversity is not an abstract statistic but a living system entwined with human survival. In the book Common Medicinal Plants of the Cordillera Region (co-authored), Co foregrounded Indigenous knowledge as empirical data, making him the foremost authority in Philippine ethnobotanyโa discipline that scientifically studies the relationships between people and plants, particularly Indigenous medicinal plant use refined through centuries of practice (Native Plants Committee โ UP Baguio, 2022). This approach echoed a growing consensus in ecological science: blending traditional knowledge with scientific research leads to more effective conservation.
Yet as Dutta (2019) noted, in militarized landscapes, proximity to forests and Indigenous communities is often mistaken for proximity to rebellion. This collapse of distinction between scientist and insurgent is a recurring pattern in conflict zones where ecology overlaps with politics. Increasingly, such tactics are used to discredit and intimidate those who oppose mining, logging, or infrastructure projects in protected forest areas. In 2024 alone, at least 146 forest conservationists in the Philippines were killed or disappeared, per the Global Witness. When the term โterroristโ is flung without proof, it operates like a blunt instrument, erasing due process and scientific credibility in a single stroke.
Similar to that of Leonardo Co who was killed in 2010 while conducting field research in Kananga, Leyte, in what was initially described as an armed encounter. He was shot during a military operation that was later criticized for misrepresenting the circumstances of his death. The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) found that the killings resulted from the militaryโs failure to properly identify civilians. Despite this finding, the Department of Justice reduced the charges against the soldiers to reckless imprudence, a decision widely condemned by the scientific community for downplaying accountability.
This mischaracterization has serious consequences for biodiversity. In megadiverse countries like the Philippines, where at least 1,294 animal species are already reported at risk of extinction, every field survey fills critical gaps in conservation strategy (Tanalgo et al., 2025). Yet the shortage of experts, combined with the red-tagging of field scientists, directly results in species left unprotected and ecosystems degraded before they can be studied. Without safeguarding those who research and defend biodiversity, conservation efforts are undermined at their very foundation.
In far-flung forests often stigmatized and left vulnerable, scientists work under constant threats to protect every species, from the smallest to the most elusive wildlife. The wrongful killing of Leonardo Co underscores the urgent need for accountability: policies that protect, not persecute; enforcement that preserves, not destroys. Conserving these red-tagged forests is a lifetime of dedication, often carried out with little recognition. With this, it is essential that these forests be protected, not only to safeguard biodiversity but to honor the commitment of those who devote themselves to preserving what remains.
SCITECH | Leobel Ferrer
LAYOUT | Joel de la Torre
