UNDERSCORING the importance of maintaining the Candaba swamp and other important wetlands in Central Luzon, an official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) reiterated his appeal to the public to help protect the country’s unique ecosystems, especially wetlands that serve as a wintering area for thousands of migratory birds during migration season.
Francisco Milla Jr., DENR regional director in Central Luzon, said wetlands are critical parts of the natural environment and ecological system, and home to migratory birds.
Central Luzon has a number of wetlands vital to maintaining the population of migratory birds healthy.
Being a part of the East Asia-Australian Flyway, the Philippines is frequented by migratory birds that escape the winter months.
As such, wetlands like Angat Dam in Bulacan, Pantabangan and Paitan Lake in Nueva Ecija, Puerto Rivas in Bataan, Uacon Lake in Zambales, Canarem Lake in Tarlac and Candaba Swamp in Pampanga, all in Central Luzon are important to protect and conserve migratory birds.
Director Theresa Mundita S. Lim of the DENR’s Biodiversity Mangement Bureau (BMB) said migratory birds are ecosystem indicators and help keep ecological balance. Migratory birds tend to stay in an area where there is plenty of food to feed on, where they can nest or roost before leaving to continue their journey.
Migratory birds also help keep an area healthy as they feed and leave behind poop that serve as natural soil fertilizers.
A party to the Bonn Convention, the Philippines is committed to protecting migratory species, such as birds and marine wildlife that pass through its territory.
“Wetlands provide countless ecosystem services and benefits to the local community, ranging from freshwater supply, food, biodiversity, and serve as flood control, groundwater recharge, and for climate-change mitigation,” he said.
He said migratory birds from as far as China, Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are frequent visitors of the region’s rich wetland areas particularly the 32,000-hectare Candaba swamp as a wintering refuge, feeding and breeding area to escape cold climate.
“The Candaba Swamp has been identified as one of the three ‘most important wetlands’ in the Philippines and has consistently been listed in the Asian Bird Map as an essential wintering area for migratory birds,” he said.
In the recent Asian Water Birds Census conducted last month, DENR conservation experts deployed in the Candaba swamp and in Puerto Rivas wetland in Balanga City, Bataan, reported to have sighted 14,000 migratory birds, mostly belonging to the families of grebes, herons and egrets, rails, gallinules, coots, finfoot, jacanas, shorebirds-waders, gulls, terns, skimmers, kingfisher, sparrow and other water birds.
As this developed, Milla appealed to the public to be more vigilant in protecting wetland areas in the region, saying wetlands are vital for human survival and are among the world’s most productive natural environments.
He said various offices of the DENR in the region have embarked on a massive information campaign and cleanup activities to raise the awareness of the public on the importance and value of wetlands and migratory birds.
World Wetland Day (WWD) is celebrated every February 2, marking the date of adoption of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in 1971. The convention was named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where it was adopted.
The first WWD was celebrated in 1997 to raise awareness about the value of wetlands for humanity and the planet and has grown remarkably since then. In 2016 WWD was celebrated in at least 59 countries.
This year’s theme is “Wetlands for Sustainable Urban Future—Making Urban Cities Livable.” It underscores the importance of wetland areas to achieve a sustainable and livable future for the present and future generation.