Open Peer Review on Qeios Culture Lockdown, Nature Freedom: Respite for Biodiversity during the COVID Pandemic – A Limited Case Study in La Union, Philippines Michael Armand P. Canilao 1 1 University of the Philippines Manila Funding: Self funding. Satellite imagery courtesy of DigitalGlobe Foundation. Potential competing interests: No potential competing interests to declare. Abstract In dealing with treatment regimes for planetary health, a more nuanced approach to isolate the dialectics of nature- humanized and humans-naturalized may be possible by looking at case studies and areas of interest where the interregnum in human activities (culture lockdown) may have become an opening for biodiversity recovery. Such a recovery may best be characterized as nature freedom– a true instance of freedom in the Anthropocene. As quaternary consumers, the Kali or Brahminy kite serves as a beacon, signaling areas with intact biodiversity pyramids. The presence or absence may be a cue to the state of illegal wildlife trade and habitat loss in an area. The paper will present Kali or Brahminy kite observations logged using consumer off-the-shelf remotely piloted aircraft systems (COTS-RPAS) and compare this data with easing COVID-19 pandemic lockdown restrictions in La Union Province in the Philippines. As our communities transition to the new normal that looks a lot like the old normal, subordination of nature is once again the gameplay of autonomous humans. Michael Armand P. Canilao Associate Professor 4, Department of Behavioral Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines Qeios, CC-BY 4.0 · Article, August 22, 2023 Qeios ID: 4D58V5.3 · https://doi.org/10.32388/4D58V5.3 1/10