Narig Tree
Trees have stories. According to studies and experts, wood samples from Butuan Boats 1 and 4 were identified to belong to Narig grp (Vatica sp).
Among the Vatica species, Narig is the most common and widely distributed. Growing into a large tree with a diameter of more than 100 cm, the Narig also grows in other countries like Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, and Borneo. It has small white flowers that are distinctively fragrant.
Uses of the tree include engineering structures, sawn or hewn building timbers, bridges, railway sleepers, and building poles.
Also classified in the group is the Kaladis narig, a tropical hardwood tree that was considered and reported by a taxonomist in 1915 as nearly extinct. It was thought to have been extinct and gone until it was rediscovered in Zamboanga Sibugay in Mindanao. More than a hundred years later, a corporate social responsibility initiative of the Energy Development Corporation (EDC), the largest producer of geothermal energy in the Philippines, successfully tracked down the fabled species.
Studies reveal that there are 179 critically-endangered trees in the country, 94% of them are endemic. The critically endangered kaladis narig is among the 16 dipterocarps or tropical hardwood.
The discovery of the Butuan boats and the existence of the kaladis narig tell us about our identity and heritage as one of the most biodiverse countries of the world and a nation of rich pre-colonial maritime heritage.
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