Zubiri to lead honor rites for wildlife protectors in Palawan

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Dec. 14 (PNA) -- The Philippine Cockatoo Conservation Program (PCCP) celebrates its 10th year anniversary by honoring its wildlife wardens and local partners for the tenfold increase of wild Philippine Cockatoos on Rasa Island, Narra, Palawan.

Today, December 12, some 33 wildlife wardens belonging to the three tribal communities in Palawan will be presented awards of appreciation and recognition for their steadfast commitment to biodiversity conservation.

The celebration will be at Kamarikutan Kape at Galeri, this city at 4:30 p.m.

The PCCP is the main program implemented by the Katala Foundation, Inc. (KFI).

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri will lead the recognition and give honors deserved to Tagbanua, Pala’wan and Cuyunin tribal groups of wildlife wardens from three projects sites in the province.

Among the local partners that will confer recognition are the municipalities of Narra, Dumaran and Rizal, the Philippine National Police stations of the three municipalities, CENRO-Narra, Quezon and Rizal, the CIDG, Palawan Council for Sustainable Development Staff (PCSDS) and PENRO-Palawan.

”The challenges for the past 10 years strengthened the determination and commitment amongst staff and local partners particularly the wildlife wardens and it is but apt to give honor to those who have lived KFI’s mission and vision---conserving with people. While we owe this success to our generous donors and supports, equally we thank our local partners for making things happen”, said Indira Dayang Lacerna-Widmann, PCCP program manager.

It was on Rasa Island in Narra where the program started.

From 23 birds on Rasa in 1998, the PCCP successfully protected active nests of Philippine cockatoos, locally known as “Katala”, hitting a 200 individual mark in July 2008 at the traditional roosting site.

Other PCCP project sites are in Dumaran Island, Dumaran, Culasian, Rizal and in Patnanungan in the Polilio Group of Islands in the Luzon Faunal Region.

Philippine Cockatoo (scientific name, Cacatua haematuropygia) is endemic to the Philippines and the last stronghold of the species is in Palawan.

The species is a lowland specialist and is threatened primarily by poaching for the pet trade, habitat destruction and persecution.

Recent studies of KFI estimates a population of 1,000 left in the wild.

It is classified as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Widmann said the programme has indeed moved forward in leaps and bounds and in deep gratitude they offer the success to the principal sponsor Loro Parque Fundacion and funding partners---the Chester Zoological Gardens, UK; Zoologische Gesellschaft fur Arten-und Populationsschutz (ZGAP, including Fonds Fuer Bedrohte Papageien and Strunden-Papageien-Stiftung), Conservation des Especes et Des Populations Animales (CEPA).