Research

As the national university, we champion and support innovative research that addresses the country’s most pressing challenges.

22 Jun 2026

Mindoro was already a vibrant center for human movement and early innovation 35,000 years ago

In a bold reimagining of Southeast Asia’s prehistory, this research reveals that the Philippine island of Mindoro was a hub...

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18 Jun 2026

Performative writing highlights the physical and emotional sides of José Estrella’s theaters, which traditional academic writing can overlook

In this essay, Tiatco and Javier critically annotate and document Jose Estrella’s important works, making her an important figure in...

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17 Jun 2026

Using artificial intelligence, study achieves nearly 99% accuracy in classifying mammograms

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide, including in the Philippines, and early detection is crucial in...

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16 Jun 2026

Integrating art into the curriculum can deepen students’ understanding and appreciation of mathematical functions

Mathematics can be more than just numbers and formulas; it can also be a medium for creativity, exploration, and self-expression....

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15 Jun 2026

Many gay, bisexual, and transgender Filipinos who create and sell online sex content do so to express themselves and challenge sexual and gender norms

This study explores how gay, bisexual, and transgender (GBT) people in the Philippines make money by creating and selling sexual...

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10 Jun 2026

Combining Design Thinking and Agile-Scrum enhances student learning outcomes, creativity, and collaboration

Traditional software engineering education heavily emphasizes technical coding skills, but the evolving tech industry demands creativity, collaboration, and user empathy....

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09 Jun 2026

Even with standardized pay, inequalities remain in the type of work assigned to faculty members based on gender and marital status

Scholars across multiple disciplines have extensively studied and debated the complexities of workplace discrimination.

This study looks at how gender...

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05 Jun 2026

Although adequately staffed, some healthcare facilities in GIDAs face uneven distribution of health workers and reliance on temporary staff

There is a need to evaluate the current staffing and workload among healthcare facilities in the country, particularly among geographically...

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04 Jun 2026

Adolescent girls feel a deep sense of loss—both of self and of trust—after experiencing sexual abuse

Sexual abuse is a significant issue for adolescent girls in the Philippines. In the Philippines, rape is the leading form...

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03 Jun 2026

Common factors affecting the social acceptability of waste-to-energy projects include perceived risks, trust, awareness, and knowledge

Due to population growth and economic development, the sustainable management of municipal solid waste (MSW) remains a challenging issue for...

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29 May 2026

In Bicol, poverty levels vary from one area to another

The Philippines is a developing country with many regions suffering from poverty. In Luzon, the poorest region is Bicol, with...

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28 May 2026

The peels of marang and breadfruit can be sustainable sources of antioxidant and anticancer compounds

Unhealthy lifestyles and poor diets can lead to chronic diseases such as cancer. One way to address this health concern...

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Research

The Philippines has lost much of its natural forest due to decades of logging and land conversion, creating a shortage of wood for homes, furniture, and other needs. One solution is industrial tree plantations—areas where trees are planted, harvested, and replanted in cycles. These plantations can supply timber without further harming remaining forests, but managing them well is challenging.

Our study developed LUNTIAN, a computer simulation that works like a “virtual forest.” It doesn’t just track tree growth—it also includes people and their decisions, such as investors choosing where to put money, local workers seeking jobs, and forest patrol officers preventing illegal logging. By simulating their actions alongside natural processes like tree growth and water availability, we can see how management changes affect the forest, economy, and community over many years. We tested different scenarios, adjusting factors like harvest timing, profit sharing, and hiring levels. In the best case, the forest grew 55% more trees over 17 years while providing steady jobs, generating millions in income for both the university and investors, and eliminating illegal cutting.

In short, this research is significant because it provides a practical, adaptable, and scientifically grounded framework for exploring how industrial tree plantations can be managed to achieve simultaneous environmental, economic, and social sustainability in the Philippines.

This research is important because it gives decision-makers a safe, low-cost way to explore “what-if” situations before acting in the real world. With careful planning, industrial tree plantations can help restore forests, support rural livelihoods, and strengthen the country’s wood supply.

Key points of significance include:

  • Integration of ecology and socio-economics – Unlike traditional forestry models that focus
    mainly on tree growth and stand dynamics, LUNTIAN embeds human factors (investor
    behavior, labor dynamics, enforcement, informal harvesting) as core, interacting
    components of the system.
  • Evidence-based decision support – The model can test and compare different plantation
    management strategies under realistic constraints, helping stakeholders balance ecological
    regeneration, economic viability, and social inclusion without high-cost or risky field trials.
  • Demonstrated sustainability potential – Under optimized conditions, simulations showed a
    55% increase in tree population over a 17-year rotation, profitable returns for both the
    university and investors, stable employment for local communities, and elimination of
    unauthorized harvesting.
  • Policy and planning relevance – Results offer insights into how parameter adjustments
    (e.g., rotation length, investor profit share, community labor size, enforcement levels) can
    improve outcomes, supporting better policy design for reforestation, rural livelihoods, and
    sustainable wood production.
  • Innovative methodological approach – By embedding socio-economic processes directly
    into a spatially explicit simulation, LUNTIAN represents a more holistic way of analyzing
    managed forest systems, potentially applicable to other contexts facing similar ecological
    and social challenges.

Authors: Zenith Arnejo (UMR 5505, Institut de Recherche en Informatique de Toulouse (IRIT), Université Toulouse Capitole | Institute of Computer Science, University of the Philippines Los Baños), Benoit Gaudou (UMR 5505, Institut de Recherche en Informatique de Toulouse (IRIT), Université Toulouse Capitole), Mehdi Saqalli (UMR 5602, Géographie de l’Environnemment (GEODE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Toulouse Jean Jaures), and Nathaniel Bantayan (Institute of Renewable Natural Resources, University of the Philippines Los Baños)

Read the full paper: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/16/8/1293