The Wildlife Conservation Society of the Philippines (WCSP) celebrates its 20th founding anniversary this month with the usual annual biodiversity symposium to be held on 11-12 April 2011 in Silliman University, where it was founded 20 years ago. On such occasion, questions on what this organization has accomplished in the area of research and conservation are being asked.
On the research aspect, there is no question that research on Philippine vertebrates has expanded, and WCSP must have contributed to this expansion. This is definitely due to the greater number of researchers associated with a greater number of academic institutions involved in research over the 20-year period of time. Many new species of amphibians, reptiles and mammals have been described but not very many new species of freshwater fishes and birds have been added to the list of these two groups. Birds have been studied intensively for many decades as they are a popular group of vertebrates. Freshwater fishes are represented by few species in the Philippines in contrast to marine fishes, which number in a few thousands. Once in a while new species of marine fish are discovered but in general, marine fishes are well studied taxonomically and are the subject of several excellent illustrated guides.
How about conservation of biodiversity? Can we say for sure we have progressed as well? We may have some gains in ex-situ conservation, but I doubt whether we can say the same thing for in-situ conservation (that is, conservation of species in their natural habitats) of our wildlife species. I say this because first of all, many of our protected areas are not functioning well and second, because we have not done much at all in protecting endangered species outside of protected areas.
Protected areas, whether terrestrial or marine, are not fully protected. Poaching of wildlife and fish in protected areas such as nature parks and marine parks is common throughout the country. Add to this is the continuing destruction of habitats.
On the second point, I would like to call attention to the provision for the establishment of Critical Habitats in Section 25 of the Wildlife Conservation. Critical Habitats are wildlife habitats outside of the protected areas under the NIPAS Act (R.A. No. 7586), where endangered endemic species exist based on scientific studies. DENR Memorandum Circular No. 2007-02 contains the guidelines for the management of Critical Habitats.
An example of an Endangered endemic species is the bare-backed fruit bat (Dobsonia chapmani) in southern Negros Island. The various studies in the past 50 years have documented this species. In the 1970s, it was thought that this species was extinct. But the latest of these papers in the Silliman Journal (Alcala, E. et al 2004) showed that this species is found in critically small numbers in sub-marginal habitats in southwestern Negros Island and is heavily threatened by hunters. It is a matter of time before this species will be extirpated. The Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau could have declared the area in Sipalay, Negros Occidental as Critical Habitat, but it did not. How many more threatened species need to be protected in Critical Habitats all over the country?
I hope that this year’s symposium will seriously consider adopting a program to assist the national and local governments to protect the habitats of biodiversity through the strict implementation of protected areas and the establishment of Critical Habitats for threatened species.
