UPLB alumni talks about ‘Sukat ng Kalikasan’ in SESAM ExChanges
The School of Environmental Science and Management-University of the Philippines Los Baños (SESAM-UPLB) invited a UPLB alumni in the 19th installment of SESAM ExChanges: an Environmental Challenges and Solutions Seminar on May 26, 2025 at SESAM Board Room and via Zoom and Facebook Live.
Dr. Neil Aldrin D. Mallari, a UPLB alumni and a PhD graduate of Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom, discussed “Developing a Framework to Measure Nature: Sukat ng Kalikasan”. Dr. Mallari is currently the regional Focal Point of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Commission on Protected Areas.
Dr. Mark Dondi M. Arboleda, OIC-Dean of SESAM thanked Dr. Mallari who travelled all the way to UPLB for his lecture. “This 19th SESAM ExChanges is for you and our resource speaker worked hard in biodiversity and hopefully this will inspire you to come up with ideas in your thesis and research”, Dr. Arboleda added.
Dr. Richard B. Parilla, President of PESA, Inc. and Associate Professor at UP Visayas, “As environmental problems become more complex due to climate change and biodiversity loss due to pollution, and resource depletion, the need for informed dialogue and interdisciplinary collaboration has never been greater”, Dr. Parilla said.
Dr. Mallari detailed that ‘Sukat ng Kalikasan’ (SnK) is the Philippines’ national interpretation of high conservation values (HCVs) combined with natural capital accounting. It is a framework that provides stakeholders and partners with a science-driven and evidence-based approach for identifying, measuring, and valuating HCVs in the Philippine setting. It was developed to bridge gaps in existing conservation planning, management, and monitoring tools by employing the necessary spatial analyses and integrating the conservation values of biodiversity, ecosystem services, and social and cultural aspects into their economic values. “Sukat ng Kalikasan is a merger of two international accepted of frameworks the high conservation value assessment and the natural capital accounting”, Dr. Mallari added.
The SnK is a practical conservation framework for ensuring that critical values in natural and production landscapes are identified, managed, and monitored. This High Conservation Value Areas (HCVA) – Natural Capital Accounts (NCA) framework is the building block in identifying conservation targets.
He added that are challenges in measuring biodiversity– oversimplifying data into list and indices; dealing with incompetent detection; working on sites; and inadequate coverage of protected are boundaries. “Identifying HCVAs addresses these challenges and ensures that anthropogenic activities will not have a negative impact on these areas”, Dr. Mallari stressed.
In her closing remarks, Dr. Decibel V. Faustino-Eslava, professor, SESAM mentioned that the framework presented by Dr. Mallari can be applied in researches and thesis, particularly for the SESAM PhD in Environmental Diplomacy and Negotiations.
More than 300 attended onsite, via Zoom and Facebook live. SESAM ExChanges is organized by the Continuing Education and Training (CETD) headed by For. Sofia A. Alaira, with Dr. Thaddeus P. Lawas, Ms. Cherry S. Padilla, Robert Patrick M. Cabangbang and Jessa O. Aquino-Cando. CETD-SESAM was also supported by Ms. Rosemarie Laila D. Areglado-Dimasuay, Ms. Ericha A. Amante and Ms. Dhannie Grace Bernardo.
