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    Philippines Program

    Our program focuses on discovering and documenting lichens and plants increasingly threatened by habitat loss in the Southern Philippines. Through collaborative field expeditions, research, and partnerships with local communities, universities, and policymakers, we work to understand, protect, and highlight the biodiversity of this critically endangered ecosystem.

    Vision & Purpose

    Our mission is to explore, document, and conserve the remarkable biodiversity of the southern Philippines, a hotspot of endemic plants and lichens facing escalating threats from habitat loss. Through scientific research, data acquisition, community collaboration, and education, we strive to deepen understanding of this unique ecosystem and foster lasting stewardship for its protection.

    Program/Area Summary

    The Philippines has over 7,500 islands divided into three regions: Luzon (north), Visayas (central), and Mindanao (south). Our program documents plant and lichen diversity in the southern region through field expeditions from 2019 to 2023.

    Each trip includes international and Filipino experts, students, and local community members.

    Short-Term Goals

    • Collect, document, and identify plants and lichens through expeditions  
    • Explore new areas in the southern Philippines  
    • Digitize and share botanical data  
    • Build a plant image bank  
    • Sequence lichen DNA  
    • Mentor a master’s student (plants) at TCU/BRIT and a postdoc (lichens) at BRIT  
    • Add thousands of new specimens to the BRIT herbarium 

    Long-Term Goals & Aspirations

    • Describe all new species discovered and report new records 
    • Produce monographs of focal groups 
    • Investigate relationships of Philippine species within broad phylogenetic frameworks 
    • Create a silica-dried leaf material bank of thousands of samples 
    • Create a DNA bank of Philippines lichens with at least 500 species 
    • Characterize patterns of species richness and endemism across the region 
    • Test the effect of Pleistocene land conformations on the Philippine flora and fungi 
    • Explore the option of bringing into cultivation under glass at FWBG living plants collected from the Philippines for public display, education, and conservation 

    More ways to get involved with the Fort Worth Botanic Garden