Summer,1998

Letters from the Philippines

Gerry Ledesma, President of the Philippine Reef & Rainforest Conservation Foundation in Negros, writes:

"Good morning from Bacolod. CONGRATULATIONS ON THE SUCCESSFUL FUNDRAISING BY THE WLT. Many thanks to all supporters who have sent donations. Here is the financial picture:

We paid $60,000 into the Danjugan account for which we got an exchange rate of 41.14 (2,469,000 pesos). This does leave us with a balance of 213,490.72 pesos ($5,188) caused by the high interest rates on the loan but we will do our best to raise these funds at this end.

Having the loan paid off makes a tremendous difference, suddenly we can begin work on all the conservation projects we have been planning. The local community are fired with enthusiasm and we have just heard that the Barangay Council have just passed the resolution on our marine reserve and sanctuary. We are organising the community based management council and will report again soon.

The other good news is that the two Filipino researchers, J C Gonzales and Andy Dans, are looking more closely at the bat cave by the third lagoon. And they are STILL sure that among the 10,000 bats in the colony some are Dobsonia chapmani. As bat experts they normally observe insectivorous bats emerging first at dusk, but at this cave it is the frugivores that come out first, which is very unusual indeed. This bat was thought to be extinct so if they do confirm that it is in fact Dobsonia, this makes Danjugan Island even more important.

Wildlife sightings are good at present, the fruit doves have bred again successfully and the turtles are doing well.

Please pass on our thanks again to all WLT supporters for their generous donations. Although we in the Philippines will be glad when our peso is worth a bit more to the rest of the world it has certainly helped us to save Danjugan Island.

- With best wishes to you all. Gerry"

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Very close to Danjugan Island, the Tanon Strait between Negros and Cebu, is a spectacular congregating place for many marine species. With luck you will see melon-headed whales, short-finned pilot whales, pygmy sperm whales and spinner dolphins. Boat trips can be taken from Bais City on Negros and we are told that spectacular wildlife sightings can almost be guaranteed!

Cebu, next to Negros has suffered from serious deforestation, but tropical forests survive in Mt Kanlaon Natural Park. These dense forests are a refuge for many seriously threatened species, including Prince Alfred's (or Philippine) Spotted Deer and Bearded (or Warty) Pigs. Mt Kanlaon is an active volcano, which last erupted in August 1996, sending ash 5,000 ft into the air. There were fatalities on this occasion, including a young British conservationists, so extreme care is needed if you are considering the arduous climb to the top.

Pamilacan, the tiny island south of Negros and Cebu, rarely named on maps, is also an excellent spot for whale watching and species that can be seen, (mainly between November and May) include: Sperm whales, Bryde's whale, pygmy killer whale, melon-headed whale and short-finned pilot whales.

As protection improves around Danjugan Island and the sanctuary is established, the Sulu Sea will provide a safe haven, and excellent feeding ground for all marine species.

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Eye Witness on Danjugan

by Nigel Hicks

It was a calm evening after the passing of the storm. I sat on the beach and watched a night sky ablaze with stars. After a few minutes I noticed that some of the stars seemed to lie among the surrounding trees. What was more, they were moving and flashing intermittently. Fireflies, at first just a few and then hundreds, zigzagged their way in and out of the forest, their own light show merging perfectly with the celestial one above. Out to sea, bold flashes of lightning streaked low across the sky.

I was on the tiny island of Danjugan off the south-western coast of Negros, itself one of the main islands in the central region of this fractured archipelago. For the past couple of days I had been alternately hiking among its dense forest and tangled mangroves and diving on the coral reefs that surround it. The former had been a struggle across a terrain of jagged limestone but was rewarding nevertheless as I was able to photograph a wealth of birdlife, including a pair of nesting white-breasted sea eagles and their almost fully fledged chick.

The diving had been pure joy. I was in the company of volunteers working with Coral Caye Conservation. The reefs around the island had been damaged in places by dynamite fishing, but they are now recovering beautifully, with large stands of soft and hard corals returning to their glory. While the volunteers were busy counting coral species I cruised around taking photographs and enjoying the view. And what a colourful view it was - the divers told me later that the count was 300 and rising, more species than the whole of the Great Barrier Reef.

Reproduced by kind permission of BBC Wildlife where the article first appeared in full, in the June 1998 issue

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DANJUGAN ISLAND MARINE RESERVE & SANCTUARY (DIMRS)

One of the main aims of the Philippine Reef & Rainforest Project is now very close to realisation with the support of the local community to protect biologically rich sections of the reefs. WLT and the Philippine Reef & Rainforest Conservation Foundation (PRRCF) both believe that the key to the long-term survival of Danjugan Island as an important reserve lies with the local community who depend, in part, on the fish resources of the local reefs and whose long term interests depend on conservation.

The PRRCF has been working to achieve this by careful consultation and involvement of many locals from Bulata in the work on and around Danjugan. If the community can see the benefits of the marine sanctuary, its protection should be assured. A major milestone in gaining this support was a visit of 12 representatives from Bulata to Apo Island (100 miles away on the other side of Negros) to see a similar venture working. On their return, these representatives organised numerous meetings with community leaders in Bulata gaining broad support within the whole population for the Danjugan Island Marine Reserve & Sanctuary proposal.

Sanctuary areas (the map below shows the 3 protected zones around Danjugan) are absolute no-go areas except to look and appreciate! Marine life will, in due course, revert to a natural balance and fish stocks in surrounding areas are expected to increase.

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New Bat Find

The Bare-backed Fruit Bat may have been spotted on Danjugan. If it is confirmed, it will be the first time it has been seen for nearly half-a century, and will make Danjugan a site of international importance...