Save wildlife from extinction

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), in partnership with SM Supermalls, BDO Unibank, Kultura, the Forest Foundation Philippines, Katala Foundation, Philippine Eagle Foundation, World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines, D'Aboville Foundation and the Zoological Society of London - Philippines, has embarked on a campaign to raise funds to support the protection and conservation of six of the country's unique animal species that are critically endangered.

- MARIANNE GO

At a recent event held at the Lanson Place at the Mall of Asia complex in Pasay City, DENR Secretary Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga highlighted the fact that the Philippines is recognized globally as one of the 17 mega diverse countries, which acknowledges our country's wealth of unique species.

At the same time, she pointed out, the Philippines is also recognized as a biodiversity hotspot, a designation that highlights that "our diverse animal species are in an alarming state as far as our ecosystems and the species that depend on them, including ourselves."

The Philippines, she said, is home to about 52,000 species of flora and fauna, of which about half are endemic and about 2,000 are already classified as vulnerable and critically endangered. So many of these species, she said, are not found anywhere else in the world.

Unfortunately, she lamented the threat that faces our flora and fauna. These threats include loss of habitat due to deforestation, urbanization, and unregulated and destructive agricultural practices which is "pushing our unique flora and fauna to the brink of extinction. Without action, we risk losing not just species, but the essential services they provide, services that are vital for our own survival and to the web of life."

She cited six of the most critically endangered, starting with the Philippine eagle, the tamaraw, the dugong, the Philippine cockatoo, marine turtles and the Palawan pangolin.

To be quite honest, I myself have not personally seen the Philippine eagle, pangolin, cockatoo, the dugong and the tamaraw, except in pictures. The only species that I have seen are marine turtles, but I have witnessed the harvesting and sale of turtle eggs in my younger years when they were quite abundant and it was a delicacy.