We featured five trees under Binhi’s Flagship Species Initiative – the Mapilig of BacMan, Red Lauan of Negros, Igem Dagat of Burgos, Almaciga of Mt. Apo, and Katmon-Bayani of Leyte which are some of the most rare and threatened Philippine native species. I made line art for each of the flora based on reference photos the EDC team sent, and we provided them to the participants upon registration.

Here’s a video showing highlights from the 4-week online event (please hit the play button) –

 

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Our workshop participants were also treated to trivia games in which plush toys of Binhi’s flagship fauna, the Apo Myna and the Golden-Crowned Flying Fox, were the prizes. The plushies were handmade by EDC’s partner community organizations in Sorsogon.

 

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One tree painted = one tree planted. Apart from the fun games and prizes, Binhi planted native trees in the name of the first 20 participants from each session (100 all in all) to submit their artworks. The trees and the tree-growing activities can be monitored in an interactive Communitree Portal.

On Philippine Arbor Day, June 25, a virtiual 360 exhibit of the participants’ outputs was shared on FB. Zoom, scroll, and view the works here. I had a great time spending my mornings with the participants all month (a number of them attended all the sessions and there were a lot who attended more than one) so it was such a pleasure seeing all the beautiful paintings!

At the closing of the final session, the wonderful EDC Binhi team surprised me by presenting five native trees (one for each workshop) that they planted in my name at their nursery in Antipolo.

Hoping to visit and see these trees in person soon! <3

The Katmon Sibuyan and its first bloom under my care.

Taking care of it was easier than I expected. It arrived during rainy season so I didn’t even have to water it much, and in the span of just a few months, it surprised me with this beautiful yellow bloom. <3 (I was told that Katmon Sibuyan blooms in its 3rd year so I’m thinking that this particular plant was marcotted or grown from a cutting. )

It gave me a couple more blooms until December, and before I knew it, I bought another sapling. This time, it was a Malabulak (Bombax ceiba). Notice that the plants I’ve bought are those which I’ve already drawn.

The Malabulak can grow up to 25 meters tall. Afraid that I don’t have enough space in our little backyard garden, I gave it to my parents so that they could have it planted in our family home next door.

Malabulak sapling beside the Katmon Sibuyan when it first arrived (left). it grew taller quickly after being planted on the ground (right).

The third, and incidentally, the last native tree I bought was a Katmon Kalabaw (Dillenia reifferscheidia) whose leaves are just so beautiful with their deeply defined veins.

Katmon Kalabaw (also spelled Kalabau) and its lush, gorgeous leaves.

I have not bought a single plant since then because by this time, I had grown confident enough to actually spend more time in the garden and learn how to propagate. It was the perfect time too since my Katmon Sibuyan finally successfully bore a fruit. (I say successfully since previous fruit buds were stolen by birds before the fruit could form.)

My Katmon Sibuyan’s first successful fruiting.

I tried sowing the seeds but I wasn’t sure about what I was doing so unsurprisingly, nothing grew.

However, there was a chance for redemption a second try at seed germination. Around this time I also received seeds from Ms. Cel Tungol of the Philippine Native Trees Enthusiasts (PNTE) group on FB as token for supporting a funding drive. Meet my little Supa (Sindora supa):

Supa seedling looking otherworldly at first sprout (left), and after almost a year later. Its sibling, standing beside it, emerged a few days after the first sprout (right).

I had been posting my gardening adventures on IG Stories all this time, which led to befriending fellow native tree lovers. One such kindred spirit is Ms. Rhona who generously offered to send me several saplings that she grew herself. Despite not having prior experience in growing trees, I was excited to adopt them.

Some of the saplings sent to me by Ms. Rhona from her farm in Cavite – Ipil (Intsia bijuga), Siar (Peltophorum pterocarpum), Pamitoyen (Calophyllum pentapetalum), Bitaog (Calophyllum inophyllum), Mamalis (Pittosporum pentandrum), Banaba (Lagerstroemia speciosa), Salingbobog (Crateva religiosa), Kamuning (Murraya paniculata), Bagawak Morado (Clerodendrum quadriloculare), Katmon (Dillenia philippinensis), Duguan (Myristica philippensis), and Ilang-Ilang (Cananga odorata). Forever grateful for her generosity. <3

It’s been 10 months since their arrival and I feel that I’ve also evolved so much along with them. I was able to learn about and appreciate native species through the Drawing Native Trees for Conservation projects with Forest Foundation Philippines, and now, seeing the trees (well, treelets) up close and taking care of their daily needs hands on, the conviction to raise awareness to help protect and make them thrive only grew stronger.

The trees now, still in containers until they grow bigger so that we can assess where to plant each of them.

Things I’ve learned so far – spots in the garden where each of them seem happy, who needs the most water or sun, who grows fastest, and whose leaves caterpillars enjoy the most. I’ve also learned about what to feed them (they like compost and the occasional wormy treat), and how to de-stress them after transplanting or over-sunning. Needless to say my social media screentime has decreased by at least 80% ever since I seriously started gardening.

The most recent additions in my native tree garden are this lush Kamuning, an early Christmas gift from my FFP BFFs Diane and Shen, and an Igem Dagat (Podocarpus costalis) which rode a bus all the way from Ilocos Norte! Maria saw me drawing an Igem Dagat in IG Stories for my upcoming workshop with EDC Binhi and she showed me a photo of their 50-year old tree. I’ll reserve this story for next time.

Kamuning, my second one (left), and Igem Dagat – also called Arius (right).

There are so many things I’d like to share about my growing native trees journey so I even made a new category for these posts. Hopefully that will motivate me to keep updating this blog. 😀

Below are the pattern designs along with sample applications. You can see the complete line of products they’re available on in my C.A.P. Artist Page.

Banaba Pattern Philippine Native Trees Tote Bag

Ilang-Ilang Pattern Philippine Native Trees Throw Pillow

Katmon Pattern Philippine Native Trees Wallpaper

The designs on acrylic trays and risers. (Featured in this NoliSoli post!)

Sharing also this photo of the three designs on throw pillows in my good friends Earnest and Buddy Zabala’s home.

 

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Inviting you to check out my C.A.P. Artist Page to see what other items the designs are available in. 🙂

Promoting Forest Conservation and Heritage Preservation Through Art | DZUP Atin ‘To Interview, March 23, 2021: Link

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Drawing Native Trees for Conservation – Presentation + Demo | Ang InK, November 2020: Link

Business Mirror, Sept. 27, 2020: Link

Arts for Conservation Episode | MUNI on this Podcast, August 2020: Link

MB Lifestyle, July 17, 2020: Link

This app is completely FREE and was built by Gabby Lacuesta of Funny Cow Games under my ongoing Grant with Forest Foundation Philippines. (You can read Gabby’s notes on building the game as a touching tribute for his Dad here.)

The project sprouted as early as May 27, 2020 when Gabby messaged me on IG to talk about building a game around some of my illustrations. He had already built an engine for a memory game app back then for his own children, and I already had some native tree, leaf, flower, and fruit illustrations. Combining them into a fun match-up game that could teach kids (and kids at heart!) about our indigenous trees was the dream project. But how to fund it?

The very next day, I messaged Schenley Anne Belmonte, Communications Officer of FFP to ask if we could explore making a memory game app as I was already in the process of re-allocating my Grant funds since a lot of our planned activities couldn’t materialize due to the qurantine. Shen and the rest of the project management team, Forester & Program Officer Diane Estephanie Bagui and Knowledge Management Specialist Bryan Joel Mariano, were excited about the idea. The next step was for me to write and submit a formal project and budget proposal to FFP along with a request for the realignment of funds. Fortunately this got approved, so then I needed to gather all the materials (illustrations + info on the native species), create graphics, and send them over to Gabby.

The title of the game, “ForesTree” – which I personally think is pretty catchy — was the brainchild of the Forest Foundation Ph project team. Gabby suggested adding music and voice overs to make the game more playable, so I got in touch with my good friends, award-winning musician Jazz Nicolas (who composed a lot of the Itchyworms’ greatest hits, and more!), and Patti Malay (GM of FleishmanHillard Manila and also a radio DJ and podcast host so her voice might sound very familiar to you 🙂 ) to lend their skills. So grateful they said yes despite their busy schedules! After a quick briefing, Jazz composed four beautiful music tracks + incidental sound clips in less than two days, and we ended up using all of them in the game. Patti, meanwhile. articulated the species names clearly and perfectly, with some of the more difficult ones guided by our resident forester Diane.

 

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And what you see above is the result of months of building, testing, and discussing. Would also like to thank Scientist (and fellow FFP Grantee) Dr. Denise Margaret Matias for her very helpful builds during the game testing phase.

Hope you’ll enjoy playing and learning from it! The game is completely free* and you can download it from these links: iOS | Android

*Full transparency: Forest Foundation Philippines and I do not earn anything from the downloads or use of the ForesTree App

My work with Forest Foundation Philippines was featured recently on Adobo Magazine. Hope you can read the full interview, here. 🙂

Also taking this moment to spread the love for our Philippine native trees and their importance in forest conservation and protection. Without our forests, our food and water security will be compromised andof course we can’t allow that to happen especially during this very challenging period.

Sharing these desktop and mobile wallpapers featuring some of the fruit-bearing trees that Forest Foundation Philippines and I showcased in our ongoing #ForestFruitsPh project.You can download them straight from FFP’s site, provided through the links below. Feel free to share them with your friends, hopefully along with the message of conservation. 🙂

Download from Forest Foundation Philippines:
#ForestTreesPh desktop wallpaper (2880 x 1800)
#ForestTreesPh mobile wallpaper (750 x 1334)

At that time, it hadn’t been publicized that he unfortunately contracted Covid-19, and I only learned about it when he accepted my follow request and I got to see the photos on his feed. He also sent me this very touching direct message, and with his permission, I shared the gist of our encounter with my private list on IG Stories, and a few days later, on Twitter. Reposting the thread below for documentation.

https://twitter.com/arncyn/status/1250628657527193600?s=20

While trying to deal with pandemic-related uncertainty, stress, and anxiety, I’ve been thinking on and off if art ~ the only thing I can do – had any use at all, but Sir Howie’s message (above) made me see its worth even at a time like this.

Sir Howie also showed me an awesome photo of him, his wife, and son, posing by the roots of a huge Dao tree and wondered if he could commission me to draw it. I don’t accept portrait commissions anymore, but this was different. Around that time, his essays, “Ako si Patient 2828” and “The Anti-virus Warriors in My Blood” had already been published on the GMA website, and I read both of them in one sitting.

While drawing, I kept thinking that there’s no way I can accept any payment after he had been through so much suffering. It was going to be my gift for all the good he has done, and is doing – undergoing even more tests in the name of medical research, and continuing to share what he knows in order to help others.

After I told him, he sent yet another touching message.

https://twitter.com/arncyn/status/1250629901880705025?s=20

If there’s anything I will remember during these past 1.5 months of extreme-whatever lockdown, this experience would be it. In case you get to read this, thank you, Sir Howie. I’m actually the one who received a “gift” through our encounter because it has inspired me all the more to keep creating and helping in any way possible. 🙂

Edit (April 24, 2020): I just learned that our exchange was also featured in an article on the GMA News website.

Last week, I posted my postcard that says “Kapit lang” (“Hang in there”) on Instagram and Facebook and received feedback that it could make a nice desktop wallpaper too — so here they are. They come in three sizes – one for desktop, one for mobile, and an eCard sized one for sending to friends and loved ones. 🙂

Download links:
Kapit Lang desktop wallpaper (2880 x 1800)
Kapit Lang mobile wallpaper (750 x 1334)
Kapit Lang eCard (700 x 438)

I also made another one that asks, “Kaya pa?” (loosely translated, “Can you still handle it?”) and it comes in all sizes too.

Download links:
Kaya pa? desktop wallpaper (2880 x 1800)
Kaya pa? mobile wallpaper (750 x 1334)
Kaya pa? eCard (700 x 438)

If you think these could cheer up someone you know especially at this time of uncertainty, please feel free to share these with them too. 🙂

Both designs feature flowers of Philippine native trees and plants. Can you name any or all of them?

If you want to receive a message when I have new freebies (downloadables, printables), you can leave a comment below, and don’t forget to tick the box. I promise not to use your address for anything else except for announcing when there’s something new. 🙂

Banaba (Lagerstroemia Speciosa) and Narra (Pterocarpus Indicus), photographed at the UP Bahay ng Alumni in Diliman QC

Like many Filipinos I’ve marvelled at the beauty of the Sakura in Japan, but it’s the centuries-old traditions of “hanami” (flower-viewing) and especially “momijigari” (autumn leaves hunting) that struck a chord. The fact that people are willing to travel great distances and camp out for hours to catch the trees change color was astounding to me. I can’t help but wish that we had that same kind of enthusiatic appreciation for what we have, our own native trees. I wish we had more local parks lined with rows upon rows Narra, Molave, and Banaba trees, all lush with their respective yellow-orange, light blue, and lavender flowers. Wouldn’t that be amazing? The photo above which I took in UP Diliman last week is proof that native trees are around, but they are among exotic and invasive species like Mahogany, Flame tree, Acacia etc. which are in fact more well-known — I personally didn’t know they were introduced species until I started getting interested obssessed with native flora a couple of years ago.

It’s about time we learned more about our native trees which are not only beautiful but also vital to the protection of our forests as well as the conservation of our biodiversity. Alarmingly, a lot of our indigenous wildlife are now critically endangered because of habitat loss due to diminishing forest cover.

In an effort to raise concern, I chose to showcase the beauty of our native flowers and birds in some of my stationery. Also last year, in a serendipitous case of passion points aligning, I had an opportunity to work with a purpose-driven team of forestry specialists from Forest Foundation Philippines to come up with materials and awareness activities. Because of its important message, I’d like to share the introduction printed in the Philippine Forest Blooms Planner, one of the products born out of the collaboration.

Bagras (Eucalyptus Deglupta), photographed in Ateneo during @TheAteneoWild Project’s Nature Walk

Forests give us life. Not only do they give us essential products, like food, water, wood, medicine and other materials, but forests also provide critical ecosystem services, like air purification, water in catchment areas and soil conservation, among others. In addition, for indigenous peoples, forests serve as a foundation of their culture. Without forests, we clearly won’t survive.

In the last decades, however, there has been a steady decline in the Philippine forests. From the original 27 million hectares of forest cover, it has decreased to 7.2 million hectares (DENR FMB, 2011). Reforestation efforts have been undertaken to address this problem. However, because the country, at that time, prioritized reforestation for timber production, most reforestation efforts used foreign or introduced species.

This brings us the question: Why do we plant trees? If we merely want to plant trees “for greening” denuded areas, or to engage in sustainable tree farming, then, perhaps, tree growing using any tree species, including foreign or introduced ones, will suffice. However, if we want to plant trees to restore our forests and conserve local biodiversity, then we need to use native trees.

Do you sometimes wonder why, however tall or sturdy a tree may look like, it can get uprooted quite easily during a typhoon? This might be because the tree is an introduced species not adapted to our local climate. In contrast, native trees adapt better to our environment hence their resilience to extreme weather conditions. Native trees also conserve an area’s biodiversity by forming intricate networks with birds, insects and other species by providing them homes.

In the recent years, there has been growing support for “rainforestation.” It refers to reforestation efforts that promote the use of native tree species to conserve the biodiversity and ecological integrity of our forests.

Through the Philippine Forest Blooms planner and the #DrawNativeTreesPH challenge we launched in social media last September 2018, we hope to raise awareness on the importance of our native trees in conserving and protecting our forests, while also introducing a few of our own beautiful trees.

If you would like to help raise awareness about our native trees, please continue to draw them and share the artworks with your friends by using the hashtag above. You can also use #ForestBloomsPh when you spot native trees and do share them with us, @forestfoundationph and @arncyn.