A team of wildlife researches from the Philippine WEagle Foundation Inc. (PEF) has found that the remnant of lowland dipterocarp forests in the Talomo-Lipadas and Panigan-Tamugan Watersheds, the current source of Davao's drinking water, is the habitat of some 28 species that can be only found in the Philippines.
"We were able to document 171 vertebrate species, 28 of which are endemic to the Philippines," said lead researcher Director Jayson Ybanez, who presented the study at the Ateneo de Davao University.
Unsustainable agriculture, illegal logging and population pressure continue to threaten these fragile habitats and may force 28 of them into extinction.
Ybanez said: "One of the threats that we found out is that banana plantations and farms are slowly encroaching towards the forest, even in areas which are considered environmentally critical areas as defined in the Watershed Code!"
Adaptive management would be a good scheme, wherein interventions are considered experiments where you refine your way of doing conservation and through that, all of your partners learn through doing. Very well said, Sir Ybanez... .
