Jelly and Other NTFPs from the Forests of the Kalahan Reserve, Lozon, Philippines

by Biodiversity Conservation Network Staff

Partners:

Kalahan Education Foundation (KEF) Nueva Vizcaya State Institute of Technology (NVSIT) University of the Philippines, Los Baños Upland NGO Assistance Community

Success Stories

About 30 Ikalahan leaders: men, women, youth and senior citizens gathered recently for a day and a half to analyze the "food web" in their community. None of them, even their facilitators had ever done such a thing before, but they were all interested in seeing what the result would be. While the incessant rain clattered on the iron roof, the four groups filled huge sheets of paper with a network of lines showing "what-eats-what." Some started with the fly-frog-kingfisher-hawk-eagle-human type system, but no matter where they started, each group eventually had to include all of the multitudes of plants, animals, and insects in their charts and realized that there were still more things involved than they had recognized.

When they finished that assignment, they charted where the waste from every part of their system goes. There is no such thing as "garbage" in a forest, they discovered, because everything is food for something. By this time they had gotten so interested that they had no trouble adding purely symbiotic relationships to their charts. The charts were then so cluttered with lines that they set them aside to answer the question "What are your problems with the environment?" One of the first problems was the lack of water in their springs. Their charts exposed several species of wild figs that are known to improve the watershed. Then someone noticed that several species of bats regularly pollinate and plant those figs through their feces. Then another exclaimed, "If we protect those bats, they will plant the forest full of fig trees and we will soon have a better water supply!" He had made the jump from merely seeing a single problem to tracing its roots through the environment and finding a natural solution.

"I thought we came here to hear a lecture," Bugtong said at the end of the workshop, "But, we did all the lecturing and we learned more than usual." This has been the experience of the participants in all of the several such workshops that have been held. The breakthrough in their understanding has given a tremendous boost to protecting the BIO-DlVERSITY and more important, a boost to their QUALITY OF LIFE.

Challenges

The inventory of faunal species within the Kalahan Reserve was interesting from the beginning, but became exciting when it was discovered that the Tarictic Hornbill, two woodpeckers, and two parrot species that were common within the Kalahan Reserve were on the IUCN's list of endangered species. Most live within or near the Sanctuary which was established a few years ago. Excited, the Ikalahan then invited three ornithologists to help them continue the identification work. During a three-day workshop, the ornithologists, foresters, and local leaders developed a list of more than 110 species of which 31 are on the endangered lists. The listing of the native flora is no less interesting.

The challenge is now to continue improving the environment so that these species can continue to thrive. Plans have been developed and the congressman and mayor are helping although four other political leaders are unwisely pushing an ill-conceived plan to build an unnecessary highway through the middle of the Sanctuary. The people are using public information and political counter-pressure to fight off this serious threat.

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