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Wildlife diversity studies and conservation efforts inthe PhilippinesJuancho B. Balatibat aa Department of Forest Biological Sciences, College of Forestry and Natural Resources ,University of the Philippines , College, Los Baños, Laguna, PhilippinesPublished online: 13 Dec 2010.

To cite this article: Juancho B. Balatibat (2008) Wildlife diversity studies and conservation efforts in the Philippines,Forest Science and Technology, 4:1, 1-4, DOI: 10.1080/21580103.2008.9656331

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Forest Science and Technology Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 1~4 (2008)

1

Forest Science andTechnology

Wildlife Diversity Studies and Conservation Efforts in the Phil-ippines

Juancho B. Balatibat*Department of Forest Biological Sciences, College of Forestry and Natural Resources, University ofthe Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna, Philippines

(Received August 16, 2007; Accepted June 29, 2008)

Wildlife diversity studies through rapid assessment using transect method and uti-lizing different trapping techniques were conducted in different habitat types in var-ious parts of the Philippines. Results showed the presence of considerable numberof vertebrate wildlife species in the study sites from common to rare and threat-ened species. Further, endemism was noted as remarkably high reaching an aver-age of 45% particularly at the watershed areas sampled. In addition, possible newspecies were also collected from the study sites. The computed Shannon-WienerDiversity Index for the different study sites indicated relatively high wildlife diver-sity. El Nido Island in Palawan got the highest species diversity index ranging from3.41 to 3.58. The varied habitat types and landscapes in the Philippines contrib-ute to high degree of biological diversity that deserves a concerted conservationeffort. These studies further confirm that the Philippines is a biologically rich coun-try and a significant biodiversity hotspot and conservation area in the world.

Key words : Conservation, wildlife, diversity

INTRODUCTION

The Philippines with diverse landscapes is a bio-logically rich country and is regarded as a significantbiodiversity hotspot and conservation area in theworld. Per hectare, the Philippines probably harborsmore diversity of life than any other country on Earth,but its biodiversity is also under tremendous threat ofendangerment (Ong and others 2002). In addition,because of the large number of islands of differentsizes and geological histories, the Philippines mayhave the greatest concentration of island endemismin the world, which makes it one of the best places inthe world for ecological and evolutionary studies(Alcala 2002, Catibog-Sinha and Heaney 2006).Conservation International lists the Philippinesamongst the top ten “Megadiversity Countries” glo-bally. Major international conservation organizationscurrently regard the Philippines as one of the top glo-bal priorities for conservation action (Oliver andHeaney, 1996). Birdlife International, for example,has ranked the country as one of the highest priori-ties for bird conservation.

Of the more than 1,000 terrestrial wildlife species(576 birds, 172 terrestrial mammals, 101 amphibi-ans and 258 reptiles) recorded for the Philippines,almost half (49%) are unique to this country. Unfor-tunately, these wildlife resources are continuouslyunder pressures due to loss and destruction of theirhabitat, over-exploitation, environmental pollutionand the recent global climate change. About 128endemic wildlife species are under various threatcategories (Ong and others 2002). Conservationefforts for wildlife and other biological resources inthe Philippines began in 1987 with the creation ofProtected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB)received more attention after the country signedthe 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).These wildlife diversity studies, therefore, may con-tribute important and reliable data on wildlife fromvarious sites for the implementation of wildlife con-servation initiatives throughout the Philippines.

METHODS

Study sites-Rapid inventory and diversity assess-

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ment study of wildlife was conducted in differentparts of the Philippines. The sampling area werefound in the following localities: 1) El Nido Island,Palawan; 2) Kaliwa Watershed in Tanay, Rizal; 3)Mountain ecosystems in Tampakan, South Cotabato;4) Caliraya Watershed in Laguna; and, 5) AngatWatershed in Bulacan. For Kaliwa Watershed andMt. Matutum ecosystems, only avifaunal inven-tory was conducted.

Sampling techniques--Line transect method forocular observation of wildlife, mist netting for noc-turnal and volant species, and cage trapping fornon-volant species. Known species collected fromthe mist net and traps were released after properdocumentation and biometrics. Possible new spe-cies were preserved accordingly for further spe-cies verification.

Biodiversity measures--Biodiversity parameterssuch as Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index, Sim-psonís Dominance Index and Species EvennessIndex were computed for the various samplingsites using bird-sampling data. Only the data onShannon are discussed here.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Species inventory--In El Nido Island, Palawan,103 bird species, 24 mammals, 10 reptiles and 12frogs were recorded to occur in different types ofvegetation (Magsino 200 and Osbucan 2000).Secondary forest has the highest bird speciesdiversity, followed by mangrove vegetation. Pala-wan is known for high rate of endemism. Thus,the endemic wildlife recorded in the area includes10 bird species, 6 species of mammals, one spe-cies of reptile and 2 species of frogs. Among theseendemic species the Palawan peacock pheasant(Polyplectron emhanum), the Grey Imperial Pigeon(Ducula pickeringii) and the Blue-naped Parrot(Tanygnathus lucionensis) are the endangeredspecies found in the area.

Avifaunal inventory at Kaliwa Watershed in Tanay,Rizal recorded a total of 55 species in 31 familiesfound in different plant communities varying fromgrassland, agricultural, bamboo stand and sec-ondary forest (Urriza 2004). Among these species,29% or 16 species are endemic to the Philippines ofwhich two species, the Philippine Duck (Anas luzon-ica) and the Philippine Dwarf Kingfisher (Ceyx mela-nurus), are listed as vulnerable (Collar and others1999, WCSP 1997).

Bird diversity assessment along different eleva-tion gradients with different habitat types varying

from grassland-agroforestry area, old secondarygrowth and mossy forest in Tampakan, southCotabato mountain ecosystems reported by Duran(2005) listed 55 species constituting 44 generaand 29 families. About 42% of these species areendemic to the Philippines. Three genera (Phapi-treron, Rhabdornis and Sarcops) recorded in thearea are also endemic to the country. The grass-land-agroforestry area and the mossy forest gavethe highest number of bird species, 35 and 34respectively. During this study, an unidentifiedfrog species, which appears as a new specieswas collected.

As a requisite for the preparation of conserva-tion and development plant plan for the two water-shed areas managed by the National PowerCorporation, the Caliraya watershed in Lagunaand the Angat watershed in Bulacan, a biodiver-sity resource assessment was conducted in 2005and 2006, respectively. The wildlife survey con-ducted in a 500-hectare area at the Caliraya-Lumot Watershed listed a total of 54 species in 45families including freshwater fishes. The terres-trial wildlife consisted of 27 species of birds, 7species of reptiles, 4 species of frogs and 4 spe-cies of mammals. Wildlife endemism in the area ishigh at an average of 37%. Endemic birds com-prised about 33%, reptiles 29%, amphibians 25%and mammals 60%. Among the endemic spe-cies, Luzon Bleeding-heart Pigeon (Gallicolumbaluzonica) is categorized as near-threatened. Inaddition, the Luzon Tarictic Hornbill still aboundsin the area. For the Angat Watershed, a total of 66species belonging to 34 families was recordedfrom the six transect sites surveyed. It is com-prised of 43 species of birds, 14 species of rep-tiles, 5 species of frogs and 4 species of mammals.Significantly, a possible new species of frog of thegenus Kaloula was collected from the water tribu-tary in the area. Furthermore, endemism level wasremarkably high at an average of 45%. Amongthe groups of wildlife, the mammals and amphibi-ans gave extremely high percentage endemism at100% and 80%, respectively. The group of reptileshad 43% endemic species while the avian faunahad 37%. The two endemic genera, Phapitreronand Sarcops, are also present in the area. Thus,Angat Watershed area can be categorized as animportant Endemic Wildlife Area (EWA) in thePhilippines.

Biodiversity indices--Wildlife diversity level in thedifferent study sites, based on Shannon-Wienerindex using bird sampling data taken from an

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Juancho B. Balatibat 3

approximately 2-km transect, appeared relativelyhigh. At El Nido Island, species diversity indexranged from 3.41 to 3.58. For the Kaliwa water-shed, bird species diversity ranged from 2.00 to3.44 while in Tampakan mountain ecosystems,species diversity got a low index value of 2.88 anda high value of 3.11. At the Caliraya watershed,species diversity index value averaged 2.43 whileAngat watershed gave an average of 2.11. El NidoIsland had the highest species diversity followed bythe Tampakan mountain ecosystems, then the Kaliwawatershed. Furthermore, the data revealed that lowerspecies diversity index value was obtained from amore disturbed and open habitat types. Accord-ing to Magurran (1988), an area with an indexvalue ranging from 1.5 to 4.0 is considered highlydiverse. Thus, the wildlife composition of the dif-ferent study sites is highly diverse.

CONCLUSION

Results of these different studies further con-firm the biological richness of the Philippines andthe presence of high rate of endemism that makesit one of the top megadiversity countries and oneof the hottest of the hotspots globally. It alsoimplies that several habitat types and landscapesin the country are Important Biodiversity Areaseven the small island of El Nido, Palawan. Thus,local and international organizations and even thecommunity must strengthen the concerted effortfor the conservation and/or protection of threat-ened wildlife and other biological resources in thecountry.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This work was partially supported by Korea For-est Service.

This paper is a brief compendium of the outputs inmy various research involvements. My heartfelt grat-itude to Dr. Rex Cruz and Dr. Enrique Tolentino ofthe College of Forestry and Natural Resources, Uni-versity of the Philippines Los Baos for giving methe opportunity to be involved in the biodiversityresource assessment in Caliraya and AngatWatershed; to Mr. Blas Tabaranza through theHaribon Foundation for the support given to myadvisees, Ms. Gina Magsino and Mr. Ivan Osbu-can for their wildlife inventory in El Nido, Pala-wan; to Dr. Nelson Pampolina and the SouthernMining Company in Tampakan for the support formy advisee, Mr. Neil Duran for his thesis on avi-

faunal diversity assessment at Tampakan moun-tain ecosystems, South Cotabato, Philippines; andto Prof. Joey Baril for the help extended to Mr.Rolly Urriza, my thesis advisee, during the avifau-nal inventory at the Kaliwa watershed.

LITERATURE CITED

Alcala, A.C. 2002. Vanishing Treasures of the Philip-pine Rainforest. http://www.fieldmuseum.org

Catibog-Sinha, C.S. and L.R. Heaney. 2006. Philip-pine Biodiversity: Principles and Practice. Que-zon City: Haribon Foundation for the Conservationof Natural Resources, Inc. 495pp.

Collar, N.J., N.A.D. Mallari and B.R. Tabaranza, Jr.1999. Threatened Birds of the Philippines: TheHaribon Foundation/Birdlife International Red DataBook. Makati City: Bookmark. 559pp.

Duran, N.J.E. 2005. Avifaunal Diversity AssessmentAlong Different Elevation Gradients of TampakanMountain Ecosystems and Vicinities, SouthCotabato, Philippines. College of Forestry andNatural Resources, University of the PhilippinesLos Baos. Unpublished undergraduate thesis.

Magsino, G.M. 2000. Inventory of Avifauna in ElNido, Palawan. College of Forestry and Natu-ral Resources, University of the Philippines LosBaos. Unpublished undergraduate thesis.

Magurran, A. E. 1988. Ecological Diversity and ItsMeasurement. Princeton Univ. Press, New Jer-sey. 179 pp.

Oliver, W.L.R. and L.R. Heaney. 1996. Biodiversityand conservation in the Philippines. Interna-tional Zoo News 432: 329-337.

Osbucan, I.L.R. 2000. Inventory of Amphibians, Rep-tiles and Mammals in El Nido, Palawan. Collegeof Forestry and Natural Resources, University ofthe Philippines Los Baos. Unpublished under-graduate thesis.

Ong, P.S., L.E. Afuang and R.G. Rosell-Ambal. 2002.Philippine Biodiversity Conservation Priorities: ASecond Iteration of the National Biodiversity Strat-egy and Action Plan. Department of Environmentand Natural Resources, Conservation Interna-tional Philippines, Biodiversity Conservation Pro-gram-University of the Philippines Center forIntegrative and Development Studies, and Foun-dation for the Philippine Environment, QuezonCity, Philippines.113pp.

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Progress Report. 2006. Biodiversity Resource Inventory

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and Assessment at Angat Watershed. UPLB-Foundation Inc. and National Power CorporationFunded Project. (Unpublished report)

Wildlife Conservation Society of the Philippines. 1997.Philippine Red Data Book. Makati City: Book-mark. 262pp.

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