When whale shark is mentioned, two places immediately come to mind: Donsol in the province of Sorsogon and Oslob in the province of Cebu.
Both places are famous in promoting whale shark—a globally endangered species under the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species—as their prime tourist attraction.
Popularly called in the Philippines as butanding, the whale shark is the largest fish species in the world. It can grow up to 30 feet to 40 feet from head to tail. Being a filter feeder, it feeds almost exclusively on plankton, and does not pose a threat to humans.
A docile creature, this gentle giant is found in countries where the ocean is relatively calm and warmer. In the Philippines it is often sighted between the months of April to November.
A host to a huge number of butanding, the Philippines is batting for stronger global protection measures through their inclusion in Appendix I while maintaining their status under Appendix II of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), also known as the Bonn Convention, to which the Philippines is a party along with over 120 range countries.
CMS meeting
The 12th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP12) to the CMS will be hosted by the Philippines from October 23 to 28 in Manila, with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Biodiversity Management Bureau (DENR-BMB) playing a lead role.
Over 900 delegates, including environment ministers or their officials from 124 parties, international organizations, scientists and private sector, and local observers are expected to attend the event.
This will be the first time the meeting will be held in Asia, with the Philippines being the host and focal point in the next three years. The CMS-COP11 was held in Ecuador in 2014.
The CMS-COP12 is chaired by Environment Undersecretary Ernesto D. Adobo Jr., for Administration, Finance, Human Resource and Information Systems, and cochaired by Environment Undersecretary Jonas R. Leones, for Policy, Planning and International Affairs.
With the theme “Their Future is Our Future: Sustainable Development for Wildlife and People,” the event will pave the way for a Leaders’ Dialogue on October 22 to be led by Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu.
Conference participants will draft at least five resolutions, including the inclusion of 35 migratory species—13 mammals, 16 birds and six fishes—to the CMS Appendices.
The species proposed for listing in the appendices of the CMS are lions, leopards, chimpanzee, giraffe, Gobi bear, Przewalski’s horse, the Indian gazelle, African wild ass, Caspian seal, hoary bat, the eastern red bat, southern red bat and the southern yellow bat; 10 species of vultures, including the white-rumped, Indian, slender-billed, red-headed, white-backed, cape, Rupperll’s hooded, white-headed and the lappet-faced; steppe eagle, Christmas frigatebird, black noddy, yellow bunting and the great grey shrike and lesser grey shrike for birds; and whale shark, dusky shark, blue shark, angel shark, common guitarfish and white-spotted wedgefish. The listing proposals come from all the continents: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania.
Among the proposals being pushed by the Philippines are the listing of the whale shark, white-spotted wedgefish, Christmas Island frigatebird, Worcester’s black noddy and yellow bunting.
“The high number of proposals to list species on the Appendices of CMS is a vote of confidence in the convention as the lead forum for protecting migratory wildlife. As countries turn to the CMS to prevent species’s extinction, the convention is well placed to coordinate conservation measures for migratory animals and their habitats across the globe,” Bradnee Chambers, executive secretary of CMS said, in a statement.
The high number of species proposed for listing underscores the global threat to biological diversity, Chambers said.
Global protection
Director Theresa Mundita S. Lim, chief of the DENR-BMB said global protection of migratory species is important because they do not belong to one country but to range countries, which include all countries along the migratory pathways of the species. Even if they are protected in one country, but are not protected in other countries where they migrate, the conservation effort will fail, said Lim, chief of the DENR-BMB.
According to Lim, CMS provides a global platform for the conservation and sustainable use of migratory animals and their habitats.
It brings together the states through which migratory animals pass and lays the legal foundation for internationally coordinated conservation measures throughout a migratory range.
As parties to the CMS, the range states, or the countries where a particular migratory species reside in or traverse through, are committed to conserve and manage terrestrial, aquatic and avian migratory species throughout their range. They also agree that the range states should take joint conservation action.
Appendix I includes all migratory species threatened with extinction. CMS obligates parties to conserve and restore the habitats of the species, prevent or minimize the adverse effects of activities, which may hinder the migration of the species, as well as reduce/control factors that may further endanger the species.
Appendix II includes migratory species, that would significantly benefit from international cooperation. Cooperation for the conservation of Appendix II species includes legally binding treaties or agreements, or less formal instruments or memorandum of understanding.
Tourism attraction
A certified tourist magnet, whale shark continues to draw local and foreign tourists, generating more revenues for the local government and providing employment and livelihood opportunities for the people through ecotourism.
“Like bird-watching, whale shark draws tourists for interaction,” Lim told the BusinessMirror in a telephone interview on September 22, citing the tourism attraction offered by Donsol in Bohol and Oslob in Cebu.
“Birds and whale sharks help generate jobs and livelihood for the people through ecotourism,” Lim added.
However, she added the DENR-BMB discourages feeding the whale shark because it changes the behavior of the butanding. Citing the practice in Oslob, she said tourism officials allow tourists to feed the whale sharks for them to stay in the area.
The practice, she said, prevents the butanding from migrating to other places, thus, depriving other areas along their migration path the ecosystem services extended by the presence of whale sharks.
Lim said feeding the butanding makes them dependent on humans, discouraging them to look for food elsewhere. In the process, this disrupts their natural way of life, which includes reproduction.
“We need to make these tourism activities more sustainable by allowing the natural force of migration. That is the only way to keep the genetic composition of the animals intact. They [butanding] have to participate and perform important roles in the ecosystem,” Lim added.
However, while the butanding’s conservation status is “endangered,”there is no specific law that prevents the Department of Tourism (DOT) or the local tourism office of Oslob from feeding the butanding, Lim added.
Serious threats
AA Yaptinchay of the Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines (MWWP) said that, besides direct harvesting, the biggest threat to the existence of all marine wildlife “is anything that affects the health of the ocean.” This include overfishing, pollution, ocean acidification and climate change.
The MWWP has been a conservation partner of the DENR since 2012 and crafted guidelines on how to effectively rescue trapped marine wildlife, including turtles, whales, sharks and rays, dolphins and the sea cow, or locally called dugong.
“Whale sharks or most organisms cannot exist in an unhealthy ecosystem,” he said in an interview via social media.
According to Yaptinchay, very little is known about the butanding’s biology and ecology, thus, there is a need for more research about the species. Moreover, he said there is a need to enhance the management and conservation schemes of the species.
“We still lack knowledge in the biology and ecology of whale sharks, and not enough cooperative management and conservation schemes to address these threats and dearth in information,” he added.
According to Yaptinchay, there’s a need to regulate ecotourism in the Philippines, especially if the tourist attraction is an endangered species like the butanding.
Comparing the tourism practice in Sorsogon and Oslob, Cebu, Yaptinchay said: “[There is] no comparison. Donsol is a conservation program that has been protecting the whale sharks successfully for almost 20 years. Oslob is a business that exploits the whale shark without much care on their welfare or the ecological repercussions of their practices.”
Yaptinchay is instrumental in the drafting of a Joint Administrative Order (JAO) for the DENR, departments of Tourism (DOT), the Interior and Local Government and Agriculture on tourism involving marine wildlife as an attraction.
The JAO, he said, does not only deal with issues of feeding whale sharks but of marine wildlife, in general, including dolphins and marine turtles and sharks and ray species, as well as guidelines on proper interactions, whether on a boat, in water or in the air.
Environmental and wildlife conservation advocates through an online petition launched two years ago urged concerned national government agencies to adopt and sign the JAO.
Conservation versus exploitation
Yaptinchay said most of the species offered as tourist attractions are already threatened and are supposed to be protected.
“Tourism must not be another threat. It should help conservation,” he added.
The JAO, he said, will boost the management of marine wildlife that are being offered as tourist attraction, adding that feeding or close human contacts with these endangered species are not covered by any of the laws, such as the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act, or the Fisheries Code, or even the Animal Welfare Act, as cited by Lim.
A biodiversity conservation expert, Lim said there are ways to make ecotourism more sustainable without threatening animal wildlife and their habitats not only in the Philippines but by other parties to the Bonn Convention.
“With the limited resources, we need alliances to ensure the conservation and protection of these migratory species,” Lim said.
Image credits: Mau Victa