In years to come, bats the world over may find refuge in the Subic Bay Metropolitan Area, Zambales Province, Philippines. A bat habitat restoration project is currently being undertaken by the city with Shell Foundation in Mt. Sta. Rita. (Subic Bay was the former home of the US 7th Fleet and the largest U.S.naval facility outside the US mainland.) Twenty hectares of denuded area of the mountain will be planted with fruit-bearing trees such as mangoes, guavas, and jackfruit to prevent the bats living in Subic's forest from migrating to other areas for food. The P8-million (US$200,000) project will take three years to finish and Shell has hired the help of the "Aetas" or mountain dwellers to take care of the trees.

About 10,000 hectares of lowland forest in Subic is home to two species of fruit bats indigenous to the country, the giant fruit bat or the giant flying fox (Acedoron jubatus) and the golden crown flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus). Subic's forest is considered the largest roosting site for bats in the world. However, with the diminishing population of fruit trees, the bats go to other areas and are being hunted down. Seventy years ago, 100,000 fruit bats roosted at different sites in Subic's forest. Now only a few remain.

Mr. Ding Rocco, Executive Director of Shell Foundation, says this is just the first reforestation project undertaken by Shell for bats. Shell had initially planned only a reforestation project aimed at completing the environmental compliance certificate requirement for the oil company to have its Malampaya Gas project in Subic. Rocco took in the suggestion of a forester from the Habitat, an NGO involved in nature and animal preservation. It was proposed that Shell should plant fruit-bearing trees instead of hard woods. Why fruit trees? Rocco says that the lack of food in Subic's forest drives the male bats to fly to Bataan Province, Luzon so the female bats and the small bats will have food to eat. The bat species in the country says Adriano Nava of the Department of Energy and Natural Resources, which also supports the project, are diverse and the best known. According to Nava, two bats species, the Panay golden crown and the Negros naked fruit bat, are believed to have become extinct due to hunting. Bats in the Subic area are facing a similar problem because of the unavailability of food due to accelerated deforestation. Nava says that the bats have to fly 50 km to forest areas in Bataan to get food and in the process they become vulnerable to hunting. Adriano says the planting of fruit trees will help minimize the threat of extinction of the bat species in the area. He hopes the campaign will lead other companies to contribute their efforts in conserving other animals as well.

Shell Foundation was established in 1982 to help poor directly through various programs. A big part of its programs is geared toward the environment. It has successfully put up training centers for farmers in Bicol and Benguet provinces, also in Luzon, Philippines. Through the training programs, farmers are taught how to employ environment-friendly processes in tending their fields. Shell Foundation is also planting to reforest another 20 hectares of arid land in Barangay Cawag in Bataan.