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“Once in a hundred years a rare species appears that has a special role for all of creation.” Thus was Dr. Leonard Legaspi Co memorialized as foremost Filipino botanist, taxonomist and conservationist. Leonard scoured Luzon-Visayas-Mindanao forests in research. He fought for their protection from mining and logging. In the end he fell in the forests he so loved.

It has been over a decade since Leonard Co, one of the Philippines’ most esteemed botanists, was fatally shot while conducting research and collecting seedlings of endangered trees in Kananga, Leyte.

A Filipina illustrator is selling riso posters of endemic flora to pool funds for the family of the slain noted botanist Leonard Co as they seek justice