Hope for Threatened Forest Raptors:

Lessons from the Philippine Eagle

Conservation Program

Jayson C. Ibaňez, Dennis I. Salvador, Angelito A.

Cereňo, Ana Mae A. Sumaya and Elsa A. Delima.
Philippine Eagle Foundation
Davao City, Philippines
Tropical raptors in peril
• 135 tropical forest raptor
species (Thiollay 1994)
• 45 IUCN “threatened”
diurnal tropical forest
raptor species (Thiollay
1994)

• Philippines: 14 species, 2
IUCN “threatened
species” (Kennedy et al
2000)
P
H
I
L
L
I
P
I
N
E
S
 Philippine
Forest Cover
(1990 – 1999)

Slide courtesy of Conservation

International - Philippines
Logging and Mining
Population density:

Phils. - 295 people / km2

China – 110 people / km2

USA – 223 / km2
 Presentation Outline
• Introduction
– Philippine Eagle status
– History of the eagle conservation program
• Building public care and concern for a national symbol
• Protecting habitats and restoring degraded ones
• Conservation breeding and test releases
• Laws
• Government and civil society cooperation
• Issues and challenges
• Conclusion
Philippine Eagle Conservation Program: History

• 1965, IUCN declaring it as a “critically

endangered” species
• 1970’s, MECP launched, helpful laws
were passed to protect the eagles
• 1975, CITES Appendix 1
• 1979-81, film “To live and be free” by
FREE Ltd.
• 1978, renamed to Philippine Eagle
• 1980, PECP begun
• 1987, Adopt-a-nest scheme
• 1988, new breeding facility at Malagos
Watershed established
• 1995, eagle declared a national bird
1. Public care and concern for a national emblem

140000

120000
Number of visitors

100000

80000

60000

40000

20000

0
2001

2005
2000

2002

2003

2004

2006

2007

2008

Year
1999 Presidential
Proclamation No. 79
Philippine Eagle Week
Celebration: June 6-10
School-based
education
PEF School-based
education Projects
(1995-2009)

Previous projects

Current
2. COMMUNITY-BASED CONSERVATION

Engages forest-based communities to

eagle and forest conservation by providing
livelihood alternatives and doing capacity-
building activities for sustainable
development.

Adopts a participatory approach in

planning, project development and
management.
 Adopt-a-nest Scheme
system of rewarding local residents and communities that watch over
nesting eagle pairs and their young

Nest finder/s: US $ 64.00

Community: US $ 43.00
• total nesting attempts
that benefitted from the
scheme: 75 nestings by
31 pairs (1987-2008)

• successful attempts:
61 (81%)

sightings

nest sites

Philippine Eagle localities in Mindanao: apparently

occupied territories
Community-based projects

Previous projects

Current
Mount Apo, Toril
Davao City
3. Experimental breeding and test releases:
population safety net and education tool
Breed eagles for release in suitable
vacant habitats (reintroduction)
and in forests where population
numbers are low (restocking)
Pagkakaisa
(Unity)

Pag-asa
(Hope)

250000
Number of visiotors

200000
150000
100000
50000 Total
0
1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998
Year
Eagle test releases
• Test release protocols
• Document and predict behavioral
responses of released birds
• Train personnel on release
methods, telemetry and eagle
monitoring

Kabayan
 Tinuy-an (Spring)

Kagsabua (Unity)
4. Cooperative conservation amongst sectors of the society

Department of Environment and Natural Resources

Philippine Raptor Conservation Program (PRCP)
Regional Eagle Watch Team (REWT)

Conservation International - Philippines

Philippine Eagle Project in the Northern Sierra Madre,
Luzon Island

Birdlife International – Haribon Philippines

Eagle and forest conservation project in Southern
Sierra Madre
Philippine Eagle Species Action Plan Workshop
Local-government unit
led designation of eagle
“critical habitats” in
Mindanao
1. 7 eagle nest sites as
protected areas
2. Habitat characterization
3. Mapping and delineation
4. Public consultation
5. Local government funding
and management
6. National proclamation
Protected Area Systems

83 proclaimed Pas
36 NIPAS initial component
2 new unproclaimed PAs
123 initial unproclaimed PAs

Table 1 & 4 sources: Status of Tropical

Forest Management – Philippines.
ITTO. 2005
 Legislations: REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9147
"WILDLIFE RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND PROTECTION ACT“

• killing and destroying wildlife species………

• inflicting injury which cripples and/or impairs the reproductive system of wildlife species;
• effecting any of the following acts in critical habitat(s)
– (i) dumping of waste products detrimental to wildlife;
– (ii) squatting or otherwise occupying any portion of the critical habitat;
– (iii) mineral exploration and/or extraction;
– (iv) burning;
– (v) logging; and
– (vi) quarrying
• introduction, reintroduction or restocking of wildlife resources;
• trading of wildlife;
• collecting, hunting or possessing wildlife, their by-products and derivatives;
• gathering or destroying of active nests, nest trees, host plants and the like;
• maltreating and/or inflicting other injuries not covered by the preceding paragraph; and
• transporting of wildlife.
 Key Biodiversity Areas Executive Order No. 578

Establishing the national policy

on biological diversity,
prescribing its implementation
through out the country
128 Key Biodiversity Areas

45 Philippine Eagle habitats

KBAs inside green

polygons
Issues and challenges

1. Political will to enforce wildlife and forestry laws,

including laws that protect the eagles
2. Education that prevents killing of eagles
3. Improve practice of community-based conservation
4. Improved management of existing protected areas
5. Accelerate research on habitat-use, forest structure,
and food-related evidence to know key factors limiting
eagle populations and reproduction
6. Installing sustainable funding
Conclusion
Conservation strategies that worked for the Philippine Eagle
Conservation Program:

• Public education that took advantage of the charisma of

large eagles and the iconic stature of the Philippine Eagle for
a nationwide awareness campaign;
• Local reward scheme to monitor breeding success;
• In areas of high eagle-people conflict, community-based
conservation that protect birds, net sites and hunting
grounds; and
• Effective networking of stakeholders for education, species
and habitat protection and sustainable funding.
Thanks for your attention
Acknowledgement

PAWB-DENR