Professor Rose Liza Eisma-Osorio (University of Cebu School of Law, Philippines), recently visited the law school, gave a lecture and led a discussion on the important environmental challenges our oceans face, focusing on the biodiversity threats in the Philippines' territorial waters. Located in the center of the center of marine biodiversity, the Philippines are in the middle of the "Coral Triangle," the most biologically diverse marine biome on the planet.
Prof. Eisma-Osorio provided an overview of the threats to the Coral Triangle, from pollution discharges to plastics to illegal fishing, as well as the efforts to protect this crucial marine habitat. The University of Cebu's Environmental Law Clinic, led by Professor Eisma-Osorio, successfully stopped oil exploration in the Tanon Strait on behalf of subsistence fishermen in the region to protect fisheries and critical habitat for dolphins and whales.
Professor Eisma-Osorio is a leader of the environmental law bar of the Philippines, the Chair of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law and a legal consultant with Oceana, a non-profit dedicated to protecting the world's oceans, among many other appointments and affiliations.