Maps of areas of operation
     History and work of the PESCP

Conservation and research

Content:
     Work of the PESCP related to conservation and rehabilitation of biodiversity.  See also information about species
     Some information about projects:
          Rehabilitation and release
          The BIOPAT Mabitang Project: field study of a probably endemic and highly endangered large monitor lizard.

See also separate project pages:
          Hornbill conservation by the PESCP
          First canopy observation platform in the Philippines
 

The forests of Panay play an important role as watersheds, in protection against erosion and landslides, and they are home of rare, endemic and ecologically important species. Work of the PESCP includes conservation of the last significant stands of primary, low elevation rainforest remaining in the entire biogeographic region of the West Visayas, a seed bank for reforestation of areas already destroyed and an area with a range of highly endangered, endemic species of reptiles, birds and mammals that makes it one of the highest conservation priorities in the world in terms of the number of endangered animals per unit area, and the degree of threat these species confront.

Work of the PESCP related to conservation and rehabilitation of biodiversity

• Direct and indirect support of biodiversity conservation in the Philippines, focused most immediately on NW Panay and to a lesser extent on the Central Panay Mountains.
• Faunistic and floristic surveys. PESCP has extended the known range of over 75 species of animals, and discovered several new to science, as a result of surveys conducted in Panay
• Identifying the peninsular forests as a genetic resource in terms of a seed bank for the propagation of indigenous trees and other native plants needed for the proper rehabilitation of more extensively degraded watersheds on Panay
• Research on components of biodiversity, and on the interrelationships of these components in terrestrial ecosystems, including studies of the ecological importance of species for the forest for instance by seed dispersal. PESCP has published in excess of 84 scientific papers in (mostly) peer reviewed journals based on its activities in the Philippines
• Conservation of the highly endangered Writhed-billed Hornbill (Aceros waldeni; local names: dulungan, kalaw), a species important as a seed-disperser. This is also the primary aim of the North of England Zoological Society (Chester Zoo). Success: Forest and nesthole monitoring allowed to reduce the number of poached hornbill nests (brood and sometimes also females killed) from 50% earlier to 5% since 2001.
• Watershed management
• Community-based work, adult and school conservation education projects, natural resource management and development, support or providing of small-scale livelihood projects which make local people independent of over-exploitation of natural resources. Livelihood projects include a contractual obligation by POs to commit to a conservation activity.
• Rendering of services that complement and assist local institutions in interventions against the illegal, non-sustainable exploitation of wildlife and other natural resources such as hunting and logging. We facilitate and assist the training of forest rangers; the first 67 were taken their oath from in 2002.
• Rehabilitation and release of wildlife
• Lobbying for the declaration of the forested areas of the Central Panay Mountains as protected under the National Integrated Protected Areas System.
• Building on the proclamation of the NW Panay peninsula as a Natural Park Area in 2002, networking with the DENR, LGUs, and provincial governments to promote the strategic declaration of the Central Panay  Mountains as a Natural Park Area, too
• Organizing of the many levels of society/government in forums that respond to the threats against nature and the natural resource base in the areas of their jurisdiction. This includes LGUs and Provincial Government, and is best manifest in PESCP's facilitation of the NW Panay Biodiversity Management Council consisting of LGU Executive and other municipal representation, the DENR, and the PESCP. This body is sufficient for representing natural resource issues at the local and national level, and is therefore judged to be the optimal emphasis for our organizing efforts now.
• Identification and securing of additional support and linkages for conservation efforts on Panay.

Rehabilitation and release of wildlife
Our MOA authorizes the project to receive and maintain confiscated, donated, and rescued wildlife for rehabilitation and release back into their former habitats. We presently maintain 8 hornbills at two locations, as well as several raptors near our staff house at the coast by Bulanao, Libertad, and in Sto. Rosario, Pandan. 
A local DVM, Dr. Enrique Sanchez,  had been dispatched to Cologne, Germany for additional training in avian medicine. Likewise, Filipino staff were trained to tend and care for rehabilitated wildlife in three facilities namely in Mag-aba Wildlife Clinic, Pandan, Bulanao Rescue Facility in Brgy. Bulanao, Libertad, both  in Antique, and the Sibaliw Rehabilitation Facility in Brgy. Tag-osip, Buruanga, Aklan. After proper health checks, the birds are trained and conditioned for release. In the process, the animals are familiarized with their  natural diet to enable them to survive when released back to the wild.
Literature
 

The BIOPAT Mabitang Project. By M. Gaulke, G. Canoy & E. Curio
To learn more about the recently described Mabitang (Varanus mabitang), an endemic and highly endangered large monitor lizard from the forests of Panay, a field study is supported by BIOPAT (Biologische Patenschaften e.V., Eschborn). For the duration of at least two years, three different study areas will be regularly searched for this lizard and its tracks. This search is now being extended to still other areas of the CPMR in the GTZ/DENR driven program toward the proclamation of Pas, as defined by the occurrence of critically endangered species. Then data recorded will lead to a more profound knowledge of its population status and its biology, enabling PESCP to implement concrete conservation measures. At the same time, local awareness towards the uniqueness of this remarkable lizard will be increased with the help of posters and educational campaigns.
Literature concerning the Mabitang. See also general  publication list M. Gaulke
 
 

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Philippine Endemic Species Conservation Project   - Conservation Biology Unit, Ruhr-University Bochum

Last amendment: 13 December 2010