T he four Fs--food, feed, fuel, finance—are the most recent major crises that have affected the Philippines, On top of them is the health crisis due to the H1N1 virus. It is, thus, not so surprising that one major crisis that also affects the Philippines and planet Earth—biodiversity loss—receives little attention.

Biodiversity loss, due to environmental pollution, introduction of invasive foreign species, and other man-made actions and climate change, is directly linked to the other crises mentioned above. But how many people, especially leaders, see that connection?

Hear a talakayan on the biodiversity crisis this week. Tune in/watch Kalikasan, Kaunlaran! (KK!) on June 24, 2009, Wednesday, 6:30-7:30 PM, at DZRH-AM radio (666 in Metro Manila, other kHz nationwide), TV (Ch. 9 in Metro Manila, other cable TV channels nationwide),   and Internet (http://dzrh.tripod.com or http://dzrh.prepys.com).

G uests are top officials of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity: Rodrigo Fuentes Executive Director and 2009 Outstanding Professional in the field of Forestry (as recently chosen by the Professional Regulation Commission), Dr. Filiberto Pollisco, Jr., Policy and Programme Development specialist, and Rolando Inciong, head, Public Affairs. Dr. Cora Claudio, president, EARTH Inst. Asia, will moderate the discussion.

Some of the points that will be discussed are: values of biodiversity, especially to the common tao, threats to biodiversity, effects of biodiversity loss to human survival, biodiversity and the financial/economic and other crises, and the need for leadership and public awareness of the values of biodiversity.

Join also the Quiz, contests, campaigns and projects of EARTH/KK!. To join all, register at 2299: earth<space>your message.

KK! co-producers are EARTH Inst. Asia   and  DZRH, with the support of Unilever, Unilab, Manila Water, Pilipinas Shell, FERN, Inc., Toby's Sports, Delbros Supply Chain Solutions, Yehey.Com, MAP,  and  Brahma Kumaris,  and the cooperation of GREEN Army, PFST, TOWNS, PBE, AIJC, PEIA, DENR, MabuhayRadio.com, SanibLakas,  and  various groups/individuals.