As a news report shows an upward trend for migratory waterbirds in Africa, Europe and Asia, wildlife and conservation experts in the Philippines believe the campaign to protect and conserve these threatened species are finally paying off.
They believe the country’s efforts provided the much-needed boost in the regional and global effort to protect and conserve migratory birds as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) shares the results of the Asian Waterbird Census (AWC) 2018.
It included sightings of new recordings and potentially new species of migratory birds, underscoring the need to further strengthen the protection of these long-distance flyers and their temporary habitats in various parts of the country, as well as its neighbors in Southeast Asia.
The Philippines belongs to the East Asia-Australasia Flyway, one of nine major routes of migratory birds recognized globally, and takes part in the annual bird count being spearheaded by the DENR.
The AWC forms part of the International Waterbird Census (IWC), which records the global population of migratory birds.
Upward trend
The overall status of waterbird populations listed on the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement has slightly improved over the last 10 years, according to the seventh edition of the AEWA Conservation Status Review of Migratory Waterbirds in the Agreement Area, which provides a long-term view of the changing status of migratory waterbird populations listed under AEWA.
The finding was released ahead of the celebration of World Migratory Bird Day on October 13. The World Migratory Bird Day is celebrated every second Saturday of May and October.
An annual UN-backed global awareness-raising and environmental education campaign, the World Migratory Bird Day is focused in the need for international cooperation to conserve migratory birds.
“The upward trend assessed in the report is due to concerted conservation actions along the birds’ migration routes, the so-called flyways. These ranges from targeted species action plan for the most threatened species to ensure that hunting of widespread waterbird species is sustainable,” a statement posted in the World Migratory Bird Day 2018 web site.
“More than 60 percent of populations of the species covered by AEWA are stable or increasing. Pelicans, cormorants, avocets and stilts, flamingos and storks are the waterbird families with the highest proportion of increasing populations. However, crane and auk numbers are in strong decline. And the highest proportion of populations on the Endangered International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List are in Eastern and Southern Africa,” the report added.
However, while AEWA is successful with the recovery of threatened species, the report noted that the challenge is for the treaty to stop the decline among the more common waterbirds as they are facing habitat degradation or reduction in at least some parts of their ranges.
A global trend?
The report is a positive indication and may well reflect a global trend, including that in the East Asia-Australasia Flyway of which the Philippines is part and a contracting party, Anson Tagtag, chief of the DENR-BMB’s Wildlife Management Section told the BusinessMirror. Tagtag is the country’s coordinator for the IWC and AWC.
The East Asia/Australasia Flyway extends from Arctic Russia and North America to the southern limits of Australia and New Zealand. It encompasses large parts of East Asia, all of Southeast Asia and includes eastern India and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Over 50 million migratory waterbirds, including 8 million waders, are using the route annually.
Increased sightings
There is an increased sighting of migratory birds in the Philippines in the last four years from 2014 to 2017.
From a high of 405,800 birds recorded in 2013, only 287,807 birds were recorded in 2014; 301,641 in 2015; 239,923 in 2016; and 320,164 in 2017.
Slightly fewer birds were recorded during the bird count held in January and February this year as part of the Asian Waterbird Census 2018.
Based on the data provided by the DENR-BMB, a total of 302,254 birds were counted in 269 sites covered by the simultaneous activity this year. This is slightly lower than the 320,164 birds recorded in 2017.
However, more bird species were recorded this year which were not readily identified by census participants, including 50 cormorants; 16,592 bitterns, herons and egrets; four unidentified storks; 110 unidentified ducks; 4,040 unidentified shorebirds; 40 unidentified gulls; 5,080 unidentified terms.
Some of these are potentially new recordings or possibly new species of birds in the migratory bird sites being monitored by the DENR and its partners.
At the Naujan Lake, a Ramsar Site, for instance, the result of the bird count on January 18 showed 5,523 birds which were fewer than the 6,907 counted last year. However, potentially two new species—garganeys and Eurasian wigeons—were spotted among the ducks visiting the lake during migration season.
The Mindoro Biodiversity Conservation Foundation Inc. also reported in June of a rare sighting of a Christmas frigatebird, a globally threatened species, while conducting a study at the Apo Reef Natural Park.
Central Luzon recorded the most number of birds with 67,549 in Pampanga province, making it the province with the most number of birds counted.
Meanwhile, the Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary in Cebu in Central Visayas topped the individual site with the most number of migratory birds recorded, with a total of 20,086 birds in January.
Heron and egrets; geese and ducks; rails, gallinules and coots, were among the 98 species identified during the count, with little egret topping the most number of birds counted per species.
Migratory birds help keep an ecosystem healthy. As they feed, these biological agents control the population of potentially harmful insects, leave feces that fertilize the soil, help make water bodies healthy for fish to thrive, drop countless seeds of the fruits they eat that naturally regenerating degraded forests.
But over the years, the population of migratory birds continues to decline owing to numerous factors—including habitat loss, hunting for food, illegal wildlife trade or for games trophy, which is aggravated by biodiversity loss caused by drastic changes in climatic conditions.
Safe haven
The country’s strategic location provides migratory birds more than a temporary refuge during the migration season as these birds, considered as ecosystems indicator, escape the colder regions.
The DENR maintains a safe haven for these birds.
According to BirdLife International, the Philippines has 117 important bird areas covering 32,302 square kilometers that act as a refuge for as many as 115 globally threatened species of water birds.
The Philippines has seven Ramsar Sites or Wetlands of International Importance, with a combined surface area of 244,017 hectares.
Besides the Naujan Lake National Park, the other Ramsar Sites are the Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary, Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area, Negros Occidental Coastal Wetlands Conservation Area, Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary, Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park and Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park. As protected areas, these sites are declared as areas set aside for conservation.
Interviewed by the BusinessMirror via phone last month, Tagtag said any upward trend in the annual bird count does not mean there is already an increasing population.
However, such “trend” is a good sign because it means the effort to monitor the annual migration is gaining support with environmentalists, conservation advocates, bird-watchers and hobbyists helping out to do the count, hence covering more areas.
Increased number of birds or species recorded during the bird count may also be a positive sign or an indication that the conservation effort is also paying off noting that migratory birds are considered as an indicator of the health of an ecosystem.
In such case, he said it means the DENR’s communication, education and public-awareness campaign with the help of other national government agencies, including the local government units (LGUs) hosting these migratory bird sites are gaining traction.
“This can also mean that the sites are now well protected because of increased awareness of their importance, such as for ecotourism. Some LGUs have shown interest in protecting these migratory bird sites because of potential ecotourism revenues,” he said in mixed English and Filipino.
Regional connectivity
For her part, Theresa Mundita S. Lim, executive director of the Asean Centre for Biodiversity, underscored the importance of protecting the network of protected areas that support the survival of migratory birds, such as in the East Asia/Australasia Flyway.
“Increased sighting doesn’t necessarily translate to increase in the population of the birds. It could also mean increased effort in migratory bird monitoring in the range countries. It is nevertheless still a good indication of the increasing awareness of communities, for more people are now taking part in the annual bird count and monitoring,” she said.
According to Lim, a former chief of the DENR-BMB, effective management of protected areas or national parks in Southeast Asia that are wintering areas of migratory bird species in the region—such as the Ba Be National Park in Vietnam, the Tubbataha Reefs in the Philippines, the Sungei Buloh wetland reserve in Singapore—is vital in keeping the population of migratory birds healthy.
“In planning for infrastructure for various development projects in the region, it is important to take these areas into account, as the decline of migratory species is also an indicator of deteriorating ecosystems that serve as natural adaptation measures against climate change and for providing food security,” she said.
“Protecting these important feeding and watering areas for migratory species from human encroachment and unsustainable agricultural practices also help control the emergence of diseases by minimizing contact and exposure among humans, domestic and wild birds to mutating viruses and other disease-causing agents,” she stressed.
Whether there is an increase in the population of these waterbirds, an upward trend or even increased sighting of newly recorded or new species of migratory birds, including those that are already globally endangered are a welcome development and gives conservation advocates renewed hope for these globally threatened migratory birds.
Image credits: DENR-Strategic Communication Initiatives Service