The state of the nation’s birds

I have a dream.

Planeloads of foreign visitors land daily at NAIA 3. The tourists disperse casually through the length and breadth of our archipelago. Armed with Off, binoculars, cameras and note pads, the roving bands are led by guides through trekking sites. Everyone looks up this way and that, oohing and ahhing as they follow the guide’s pointedly pursed lips. They nod in excitement and congratulate one another for their holiday choice.

Marion Saunders of Bloomington, Indiana, plants a kiss on her 50-year-old husband James’ bulbous cheek.

"If you hadn’t seen that brochure and signed us up, Jamie-boy," she alternately purrs and coos, "we wouldn’t be enjoying the best vacation we ever had."

"Yup," James drawls back. "This surely beats last summer’s rubble-hopping, ankle-busting excursion at the Parthenon, or our autumn romp at the Mall of America."

"Why, I never thought I’d lay eyes on a Limnodromus semipalmatus in my lifetime. Thank you so much, dear."

"Yeah, Marion-babe, that Asian Dowitcher sure is a sight to behold. Now to get a glimpse of the Far Eastern Curlew."

The German couple beside them look similarly thrilled. So is the beet-red Belgian widow, to whom the Filipino guide now addresses his lips. "Over there, o, Ma’m, look." He puckers toward a tree branch and the lady cranes her neck accordingly.

"Oh, yes, I see it. Why, it’s a Grey-tailed Tattler. You did say we would see it here in Olango. What a terrific little island."

Oh, what a dream: that like Spain our coffers would groan from tourism revenue, as word goes around on our incredible biodiversity, and birdwatchers’ tours are conducted hour on the hour (well, except when a storm ravages an area). But gone are the bandits and ne’er-do-wells, the mulcting cops, slaphappy immigration agents, airport touts, cellphone snatchers, luggage-grabbers that harass everyone who gets on or off a boat.

In brief, it’s idyllic Philippines of the preserved urban gardens and exotic rainforests, with all kinds of watchable species as effected by archipelagic endemism, and nurtured by a gentler, kinder people who just happened, one day, to have installed an intelligent, visionary, and formidably decent leadership.

It’s possible. That kind of leadership is possible. As cited in this exemplary new title from The Bookmark, Inc., "The Philippine government has recently passed new legislation that has the potential to enable the development of an extended, effective protected area system for the country, and thereby help to prevent the extinctions of unique species."

The book is Key Conservation Sites of the Philppines: A Haribon Foundation & BirdLife International Directory of Important Bird Areas. Its authors are Neil Aldrin D. Mallari, Blas R. Tabaranza Jr., and Michael J. Crosby. The 486-page softcover also credits contributions from Myrissa Lepiten-Tabao and Genevieve A. Agee.

Published in collaboration with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the book also owes major sponsorship for the Philippines IBA (Important Bird Areas) Project to the Darwin Initiative for the Survival of Species (of the UK Department of the Environment), as well as additional support from the following: Dansk Ornitologisj Forening (BirdLife Denmark), Ernest Kleinwort Trust, Vogelbescherming Nederland (BirdLife Netherlands) and the BritIsh Airways Assisting Conservation (BAAC).

As with most efforts that usually suffer from that syndrome of unappreciated-prophet-in-one’s-own-country, it had to be an informal international alliance behind this book. And we should thank everyone involved for this commendable addition to Filipiniana and the bookshelves of nature lovers worldwide.

So valuable is the product, so universal the concern, that we should pull out all the stops and give credit where it’s due, starting with the inspired environmental advocacy as practiced with hardly any fanfare by publisher Lory Tan. No, he’s not on the book’s credit page, but we know that this title couldn’t have taken off without his vigorous pen-pushing and orchestration.

What’s mentioned is that "The Philippines IBA Project is part of the BirdLife Partnership’s regional IBA Programme, which is funded by Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund with principal support from the Sekisui Chemical C., Ltd., and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan) through the Wild Bird Society of Japan."

Finally, "This book has been published and will be distributed as part of the project ‘Building a National Constituency for Biodiversity Conservation’ which is funded by the Royal Netherlands Embassy - Manila."

Thank you all, thank you all.

What we get between covers as a result of all that international support and coordination is more than just a brief on the Important Bird Areas (IBAs) Programme, an Overview of Results, a set of Recommendations, Maps of the Philippine IBAs and The Philippine IBA "Site Accounts" – from Batanes Islands to Sibutu and Tumindao Islands. Appendices, including that on additional candidate IBAs, References, and an IBA Data Sheet bring up the rear of this scholarly yet fascinating volume that is replete with well-detailed color maps, charts, and a generous sprinkling of black-and-white illustrations of sample birds and mammals. Most of these were done with a deft hand by O. Figuracion Jr.

The charts tell us, for example, that in the Rajah Sikatuna National Park (in Bohol), the Azure-breasted Pitta or Pitta steeri is classified as an RT, meaning it’s both a restricted-range and threatened bird. Then the notes: "Seen in Rajah Sikatuna National Park by many observers in the 1980s and 1990s, including at Logarita and Bilar, with up to six birds daily and a minimum of 16 individuals located. The evidence of calling birds has shown this pitta to be common there."

Books on birds prove seductive despite the formidable factual text, and also sometimes precisely because of it. A fanatic for the mirabile dictu can alight on wondrous words and marvelous phrases, such as "avifaunas" and "hottest of all hostpots."

The former refers to the result of the country’s watery subdivision that limits species-sharing among islands. Thus, "there are high levels of localized endemism within the archipelago, and it has been divied by ornithologists int up to 12 island-groups with distinct avifaunas."

The latter is brought up in the following 1998 assessment by the President of Conservation International, to wit, that what we have "is both a megadiversity country and one of the world’s priority hotspots. Indeed its combination of high diversity with very high levels of threat make it the ‘hottest of all hotspots’ and the country that deserves maximum attention from the international community."

I have to share in full the Foreword written by Lawrence R. Heaney, Associate Curator and Head Division of Mammals, The Field Museum of Chicago:

"The Philippines has recently burst onto the world conservation scene, belatedly recognized as having perhaps the greatest concentration of endangered species of birds and mammals of any country. Further, information on past and current deforestation demonstrates unsustainable practices and a destabilizing environment. The response by some, fortunately few, people and organizations has been to state that ‘it is too late for the Philippines.’

"This book bears testimony to the fact that it is NOT too late for the diverse and fascinating wildlife of the Philippines – nor for its environment. Cases of successful rain forest protection, often but not always involving national parks and local management, are becoming well known; these often involve a key leadership role by the Haribon Foundation. Simultaneously, as the Haribon Foundation and Birdlife International take an ever-larger leadership role in conducting field studies throughout the country, it is becming apparent that there are more large tracts of high-quality forest than we had recognized just a few years ago, and that many species of birds and other organisms are more resilient to the effects of logging and forest fragmentation than we would once have hoped.

"This book presents some of the most important information to date on the state of the environment in the Philippines. It demonstrates that there are literally hundreds of crucial sites throughout the country where critical forest and other habitat remains. While much has been lost, and much remains to be learned that is essential, one cannot read or even scan this publication without coming to understand that the natural biological diversity of the Philippines remains intact at sites throughout much of the nation, and that realistic and attainable management programs can ensure its permanent survival. There is much work to be done, and it must be done soon – but there is every reason to believe that the glorious natural diversity of the Philippines can be sustained forever. The Haribon Foundation and Birdlife International are to be congratulated on their key contributions to this essential goal."

The threat is well-known: habitat loss, caused mainly by deforestation. A Summary is succinct in defining the problem and stressing the solution. "Other significant pressures are caused by development of human settlements and roads, the collection of firewood and other forest produces, mining, forest fires, the drainage of wetlands and hunting. Many threats are linked to the activities of the large numbers of landless people who are forced to try to make a living in marginal areas, and increased action is urgently required at the national and regional levels to address the needs of these people."

So there. When we regard those words, unfortunately the pessimism creeps in. It all starts to look hopeless. Despite having a current DENR Secretary whom we know to be a genuine environmentalist, and a thinking person who will eschew the obvious pogi points to be gained in advocating a total log ban, but favor instead the practicality of a selective ban, we cannot hope much for Sec. Heherson Alvarez to ever make Sec. Richard Gordon delirious. Even if he does his level best in trying to achieve our dream of attracting hordes of birdwatchers.

There’s just too many of us, and the lack of space and opportunity gives little room for concern for our avian species, no matter how unique these may be.

Still and all, books like this – an excellent follow-up to last year’s A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines from Oxford University Press – may stay the hand of extinction. Just a little while longer. Meanwhile...

"There are three kinds of people in this world," once orated a Sufi poet as he gingerly wiped pigeon droppings off his noggin. "There are those who like birds and follow them around. Then there are those who fling stones or apply slingshots or shotguns to bring down flying creatures. And finally there are those who can’t care less, one way or the other."

This fallen Catholic says in turn, in rare prayer: Lord, please make the inhabitants of this country forsake its position of disregard, and step up from the third kind of people to the first kind, which is to be kind to birds as they should be to paper boats laden with children’s wishes. Both are fragile and need protection.