Book guides LGUs, other stakeholders on state of Cebu's biodiversity
- Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=8&rid=806160
- Sunday, September 20, 2015
- (PNA), CTB/EB/SSC
CEBU CITY, Sept. 20 (PNA) -- A 96-page book will help guide local government units (LGUs) and other stakeholders to understand the need to preserve Cebu’s biodiversity.
“The State of Cebu’s Biodiversity,” written by Lisa J. Paguntalan, Myrissa Lepiten-Tabao, Philip Godfrey Jakosalem, Al Orolfo and Ariel Rica, contains information on wildlife and plant species that stress the importance of preserving Cebu’s biological diversity.
It also provides a summary of the issues that threaten the existence of these species and the effortswhich were undertaken through the years to protect what serves as Cebu’s natural heritage.
Paguntalan said the book also highlights the importance of Cebu’s remaining forests that serve as habitat for species, some of which are classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) as critically endangered or those that face extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
A 1998 survey by wildlife biologists led to the discovery of natural secondary forests apart from Tabunan in central Cebu.
These forests are Nug-as in Alcoy, Mt. Kapayas in Catmon and Carmen, Mt. Lantoy in Argao, Mt. Lanaya in Alegria and Mt. Kambulagsing in Malabuyoc.
These forests are the home of 15 endemic bird taxa, which include four threatened species, namely the critically endangered Cebu Flowerpecker (scientific name Dicaeum quadricolor), the endangered Black Shama (Copsychus cebuensis), the endangered Cebu Hawk-owl (Ninox rumseyi) and the Cebu Brown Dove (Phapitreron frontalis).
“The presence of these four threatened endemic species makes the (Cebu) island an important global Endemic Bird Area and an Important Bird Area according to BirdLife International,” the authors wrote.
Birds play an important role in the ecosystem as they help in plant reproduction as pollinators or seed dispersers.
Some bird species are important to the survival of other species while predators, such as raptors, keep the population of other animals healthy.
Massive deforestation in Cebu drove to extinction several endemic species, such as the Philippine Cockatoo (Cacatua haematuropygia) and the Philippine Leafbird (Chloropsis flavipennis).
Mammalian species, such as the Visayan Spotted Deer, Visayan Warty Pig and the Cebu Pygmy Buffalo, have also disappeared from Cebu island.
An endemic fish, a species of goby (Sicyopus cebuensis), also became extinct.