Wildlife showcase

CALAUIT, Calamianes Islands, Palawan –Three thousand seven hundred sixty hectares is a lot of land not to have a single flower in bloom.

"It is difficult to grow flowers in this free-range island habitat," said Froilan Sariego, resident project manager of the Calauit Game Preserve and Wildlife Sanctuary. "Exotic animals from Africa and important Philippine wildlife eat the flowers for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Often, we have to get the animals’ food supply from the nearby islands."

The game preserve is located on the northwest corner of Busuanga Island. It takes about three and a half hours and P4,500 by rented pump boat to get there. To reach Busuanga from Manila, there’s the inter-island ship or the 19-seater plane of South East Asian Airlines.

The entrance fee is P300 for foreign tourists and P100 for locals. Whatever is earned from the entrance fees is given to the national government. In exchange, government has set aside P6 million a year for the game preserve’s range management and operational expenses.

Based on the game preserve’s workforce, that annual budget is not enough. From a peak of 400, there are currently 37 project staff who have not received their salaries for the last three months. (There is talk that their salaries for the fourth quarter will be slashed by 25%).

"We need at least P3 million a year more for rehabilitation projects," said Sariaga.

The game preserve is further endangered by the Balik Calauit movement, which has slashed and burned 327 hectares of pasture land, forests and savannahs since 1986. To date, there are at least 123 families that squat on the land.

Showcase

Over its 26-year existence, the game preserve has evolved into the country’s major conservation showcase. It holds the distinction of being the first successful wildlife translocation experiment in Asia and the second such project in the world. The other one is the San Diego Zoo in the United States.

"Our goal is to preserve unique Philippine and foreign wildlife species that are being threatened to extinction in their original habitat. This project aims to serve as the Philippines’ primary contribution to the international conservation effort,"said Romeo Dorado, executive director of Palawan Council for Sustainable Development, the overseer of the Calauit project.

From the propagation of exotic animals, Calauit has branched out into a repository of Philippine wildlife such as the endangered Calamian deer. Its marine sanctuary provides refuge to the vanishing dugong or sea cow, sea turtles and giant clams.

"Aside from our contribution to conservation, we have gained international attention as a unique nature park destination, a prototype for similar undertakings and as an alternate source of replacement stock for Asean zoos," said Sariaga.