October 22, 2025 · MasungiLocal Climate & EcologyMasungi GeoreserveThe karst conservation area in Rizal that has become the emblem of Philippine conservation conflict — restoration, land disputes, and attacks on its defenders.Read more in the Glossary → Georeserve shared that the Exacum loheri (H. Hara) Klack was rediscovered in its limestone forests after over a hundred years, marking a historic win for the country’s biodiversityGlobal EssentialsBiodiversityThe variety of life in an ecosystem — species, genes, and habitats. The Philippines is one of only 17 megadiverse countries, and one of the most threatened.Read more in the Glossary →. The Philippine Journal Science confirmed the finding in a research note authored by scientists from the University of the Philippines Diliman and the Philippine Normal University.
After its first discovery in 1895 by Swiss botanist August Loher, the study “Notes on the Poorly Known Exacum loheri (H. Hara) Klack. (Gentianaceae) and a Key to the Philippine Species of Exacum” now presents the first photographs of living E. Ioheri within Masungi’s limestone ecosystem.
According to researchers Jayson A. Mansibang, Lawrence Jacob C. Alterado, Aaron Gabriel B. Espinosa, and Erwin M. Blancaflor, Masungi Georeserve currently houses the only known living population of the species in the wild. “Considering its restricted distribution, this species is presumed to be extremely rare and probably threatened at present,” the authors wrote.
“The rediscovery of this long-lost species shows why the Vena Group’s 603-MW wind project has no place in the Masungi KarstLocal Climate & EcologyKarst LandscapeTerrain formed by dissolving limestone — caves, sinkholes, jagged spires — hosting rare species and fragile aquifers. Nearly impossible to restore once quarried.Read more in the Glossary → Conservation Area. Every year, science reveals more rare and endemicLocal Climate & EcologyEndemic SpeciesSpecies found nowhere else on Earth. More than half of Philippine vertebrates are endemic — extinction here is global extinction.Read more in the Glossary → life thriving here—proof that this landscape is irreplaceable,” Billie Dumaliang, Director for Advocacy at Masungi Georeserve Foundation, said.
