UPLB needs your help to build its futuristic Museum of Natural History

The country's premier state university in Los Baños, Laguna, needs a futuristic new building to house the treasures of its Museum of Natural History—and it's calling on you for help.

 

According to the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), the present building—which accommodates some 50,000 visitors a year—is old and structurally unsound.

 

The new complex will be highlighted by the DiverCity Dome, an enclosed space to house live native flora and fauna. "(It will have) a wide range of native trees and other plants as well as low-maintenance animals like birds and butterflies," the UPLB explained.

 

"We dream of a new building for the museum, a structure which will withstand environmental pressures and protect the Philippine's repository of biota. We look forward to creating a more conducive research environment which will make scientists and conservationists more productive in their quest to alleviate biodiversity loss," UPLB said in its press release.

 

"But more importantly, we want a home where our young and future generation can still see and appreciate the beauty and expanse of our country's biological treasures," it added.

 

Presently, UPLB said its museum at the old Makiling Residence Hall in the College of Forestry and Natural Resources campus boasts of:

 

 

However, the museum's main collections are not within the main building but in separate areas inside the university.

 

On the other hand, UP cited the unavailability of built-in laboratories, preparation rooms and other research facilities.

 

The UPLB sought donations, whether monetary, in kind, or "even just words of encouragement."

 

Interested parties can direct their inquiries via phone +63(49)536-3669 or email mnh@uplb.edu.ph; mnhuplb@gmail.com. — Joel Locsin/TJD, GMA News