A zoologist born and raised in Agusan del Norte has made it to TIME magazine’s “Heroes of the Environment 2008” along with Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger, British entrepreneur Peter Head, Inuit activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Chinese journalist Wang Yongchan and 26 others.
The lone Filipino among the 2008 heroes, Jurgenne Honculada-Primavera, was chosen for her campaign on sustainable fish/shrimp farming and the protection of mangroves.
“I am not and have never been against aquaculture in my mangrove advocacy. My paradigm is that of mangroves and ponds existing side by side, carefully balanced to protect the environment while sustaining food production,” she said.
The lone Filipino among the 2008 heroes, Jurgenne Honculada-Primavera, was chosen for her campaign on sustainable fish/shrimp farming and the protection of mangroves.
“I am not and have never been against aquaculture in my mangrove advocacy. My paradigm is that of mangroves and ponds existing side by side, carefully balanced to protect the environment while sustaining food production,” she said.
A multi-awarded scientist, Pew Fellow and Scientist Emerita of the Southeast Asian Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center Aquaculture Department (SEAFDEC/AQD), Primavera is one of six heroes under the category, “Scientists and Innovators.” The other categories are “Leaders and Visionaries;” “Moguls and Entrepreneurs;” and “Activists.”
Primavera finished BS Zoology, cum laude, at the University of the Philippines in 1966 and her doctoral degree in Marine Science in 1996 from the same university. She obtained her MA in Zoology from the Indiana University in 1969, taught biology and zoology at the Mindanao State University in Marawi City and has been based in Iloilo since 1975, when she joined SEAFDEC/AQD.
Primavera learned she was chosen when Bangkok-based Hannah Beech of TIME Magazine “interviewed me long distance for one hour at my Sta. Barbara, California hotel” on September 23.She was in Sta. Barbara for a meeting with her writing group at the University of California. The group meets twice a year, she said.
Beech’s article on Primavera begins with a question: “Love shrimp cocktail?”
She continues: “So do lots of others – and that’s the problem. Jurgenne Primavera, whose groundbreaking studies on the life cycles of tiger prawns in her native Philippines helped galvanize an aquaculture revolution, doesn't want to impose a global ban on shrimp tempura. But the former senior scientist at the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center on the Filipino island of Panay is campaigning for sustainable fish-farming in order to protect the mangrove forests that act as a crucial buffer zone between land and sea.“
"They remind us that in the face of human creativity and will, no challenge is too great, and no battle is unwinnable - if only we fight."
PHILIPPINE PRIDE INDEED! protect our planet
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