Forest Fruits from Central Luzon, 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

We have found that food web seminars are an excellent way to facilitate community understanding of how their local ecosystems function. In each community, the food web seminar comes up with a unique observation. In one, they observed the need to protect the rat snakes in order to reduce the rats, which have become horrible pests in the food production fields. Our pastor was hiking with some young people shortly after one seminar where this observation was made and they saw a rat snake crossing the trail. Because of their fear of green vipers, the villagers previously had a habit of killing any and all snakes that they saw. This time, no attempt whatsoever was made to kill the snake.

When the Kalahan Reserve was established 22 years ago, the elders set aside 800 hectares to protect the watersheds. A short time later they agreed that the watersheds would also be sanctuaries for indigenous wildlife. During the biodiversity analysis in the Kalahan Reserve sponsored by the BCN, KEF staff discovered at least 30 species of birds and ten species of other animals, mostly bats and reptiles, that are either on the CITES or the IUCN list of endangered species. Through the food web seminars the people have seen that many of those species are important to pest management in the area because many of the birds are predators. They also discovered that several of the bats were responsible for seed distribution and germination of the trees that are important to the watersheds, so they voluntarily enlarged the sanctuary to 2,000 hectares and are working to improve the nesting sites and food supplies for the important dispersal species.

Challenges

The study of indigenous fauna in the area is far from finished and every new analysis reveals more interesting discoveries. The KEF staff has discovered a small stand of Pistacia chinensis, a very valuable tree that is seriously endangered. They are now analyzing how they can improve the regeneration of that and several other trees and orchids within the Reserve.

The battle against the construction of a highway through the sanctuaries continues. A few misguided political leaders are pushing for it but the congressman and mayor have been helping us improve the sanctuary and promote the wildlife of the area. The momentum in favor of protection is building and will probably be enough to outweigh the pressures in favor of the highway.

Another KEF project, an aviary, is being constructed on the campus of the Kalahan Academy. Upon completion, the government officials in charge will strictly implement the law against the commerce in wild birds. The birds that they rescue or confiscate will be turned over to the aviary, which will serve as a rehabilitation center. Many of them will be re-released into the forests. The aviary will also serve as a training center for mountain people and others and a few species may be propagated within the aviary for commercial use to support the program. The aviary is not being supported by the BCN program but the motive behind it came out of the BCN inventory and extension work.

A very recent challenge has come from a vegetable processing company that has entered the area and promises to supply seeds, chemicals and technologies to the local farmers to produce vegetables; these they guarantee to purchase. They are requesting the farmers to use chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which could cause damage to the environment. The economic pressures are extremely strong on the farmers to join the program. This challenge is so recent, the KEF has not yet decided how to confront it.

One of the biggest challenges is to encourage the community and staff to continue the Timber Stand Improvement program within the secondary forests so that the culled timber from that program will provide an additional steady income for the population. The lead time for this program is much greater than the other programs but the expected benefits are also much greater.

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