Angel Chua AlcalaONS (March 1, 1929 – February 1, 2023) was a Filipino biologist who was named a National Scientist of the Philippines in 2014. Alcala is known for his fieldwork to build sanctuaries and to promote biodiversity in the aquatic ecosystems of the Philippines. He was the Chairman of the Board of Advisers at the Angelo King Center for Research and Environmental Management located in Silliman University.[1] Alcala published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and books and his biological contributions to the environment and ecosystems have made him a renowned figure of natural sciences in the Philippines.[2]
Early life
Alcala was born on March 1, 1929, in the municipality of Cauayan, Negros Occidental.[3] He was raised by a moderately low-income family in the small coastal town of Calling, Philippines. Alcala worked alongside his father who worked as a fisherman at the nearby agricultural fish ponds.[4] Due to his family's financial struggles, they depended on the ocean for its resources either[5] in providing food or items to sell.
Angel Alcala is accredited with many research accomplishments and improvements regarding environmental management, marine conservation, and discovery of new species. One of Alcala's works consisted of restoring or preserving areas with predominant wild,large predatory fish populations near a small marine sanctuary at Apo Island in the Philippines. His goal was to sustain hospitable conditions in this sanctuary throughout the duration of his research.[8] This sanctuary, called the Sumilon Marine Reserve, began as just an uninhabited area under 100 kilometers away from Apo Island.[9] Another research element Alcala incorporated in his study is associating the species’ survival rate of large, predatory fish with available ocean territories around reefs and fisheries. This helped place an effort to set boundaries to distinguish marine sanctuaries and fishing areas. Alcala's conservation efforts accompanied by his research in oceanic and land management helped stabilize retention of once-endangered species in the Sumilon Island and Apo Island marine reserves.[10]
His studies correlated the efforts of protective environmental practices with the effects of either continuing or ceasing those regulations. Incidents of fishing are common consequences when ocean space and resources are available and not properly managed. These studies were primarily conducted near coral reefs of Sumilon Island located in the central Philippines. Alcala concluded how maximizing conservation and environmental efforts near these coral reefs reduced fishing and stabilized struggling fish species that faced the increased loss of habitat.[11]
Marine conservation
Angel Alcala experimented with his teams to conserve coral reefs and other marine resources. In their "no-take" experiment,[12] Alcala's team tested the mobility of fish species when humans were forbidden from fishing in these areas. By doing so, they discovered that the species abundance in the area declined while pushing the boundaries of their residence to further reaches. These findings provide evidence that conservation of these fishes and coral reefs not only slows the species' decline in numbers, but also the growth in habitat for all marine life.[13]
Bolinao Giant Clam Sanctuary
Alcala has also worked to protect the lives of giant clams in the Philippines. He worked alongside Dr. Edgardo Gomez to assess the organisms' status in 1983. After thorough evaluation of Bolinao waters, they learned that the numbers were insufficient. Gomez and Alcala retrieved young giant clams from the Solomon Islands to breed back in Bolinao. After their work, the giant clam population has increased significantly to ensure that the ecosystem is stable.[14] On October 25, 2014, he visited the Semirara coast where he spoke in favor of saving giant clams.[15]
Species discoveries
Along with his many other accomplishments, Angel Alcala's work has led to the discovery of 50 new species of reptiles and amphibians.[16] In other words, more than 10 percent of all reptiles and amphibians in the Philippines are known today because of Alcala's work. This fieldwork began while he was still a student and ultimately built a stronger foundation to jumpstart conservation programs within the Philippines.[17]
President Benigno Aquino III conferred on marine biologist and Fulbrighter Dr. Angel C. Alcala the title of National Scientist for his major contributions to the country's marine development and ecology concerns. The Order of National Scientist is the highest honor given by the President to a man or woman of science in the country who has made significant contributions in one of the different fields of science and technology.[18]
Awards and other accomplishments
In 1959, Angel Alcala earned the Fulbright-Smith Mundt master's fellowship in Stanford University's biology department.[18]
In 1999, he was awarded the Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation for his continued, exceptional work in marine conservation.[20]
In 2014, PresidentBenigno Simeon Aquino III Proclamation No. 782, naming Alcala a National Scientist of the Philippines[21] in recognition of his research on ecology and diversity of Philippine amphibians and reptiles, marine biodiversity, and marine-protected areas.
^Troxell, Eleanor (May 1936). "The Unit-Activity Reading Series: Tom's Trip. Nina Benton Smith The Unit-Activity Reading Series: At Home and Away. Nila Banton Smith The Unit-Activity Reading Series: In City and Country. Nila Banton SmithThe Unit-Activity Reading Series: Round about You. Nina Benton SmithThe Unit-Activity Reading Series: Teachers' Guide for the First Year. Nila Banton Smith". The Elementary School Journal. 36 (9): 712–714. doi:10.1086/457399. ISSN0013-5984.
^Russ, G. R.; Alcala, A. C. (January 1, 1990). "A direct test of the effects of protective management on abundance and yield of tropical marine resources". Journal du Conseil International pour l'Exploration de la Mer. 47 (1): 40–47. doi:10.1093/icesjms/47.1.40.
^Abesamis, Rene A.; Russ, Garry R.; Alcala, Angel C. (2006). "Gradients of abundance of fish across no-take marine reserve boundaries: evidence from Philippine coral reefs". Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. 16 (4): 349–371. doi:10.1002/aqc.730.
^Russ, G. R.; Alcala, A. C. (December 1, 1999). "Management histories of Sumilon and Apo Marine Reserves, Philippines, and their influence on national marine resource policy". Coral Reefs. 18 (4): 307–319. doi:10.1007/s003380050203. S2CID8912347.
