The Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Biodiversity Management Bureau (DENR-BMB), the DENR-UNDP/GEF Biodiversity Corridor Project (BD Corridor Project) and the Philippine Eagle Foundation Inc. (PEFI), in collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature – Conservation Planning Specialist Group (IUCN-CPSG) and Mandai Nature conducted the “Philippine Eagle Population Viability Analysis (PVA) and Revision of the Philippine Eagle Species Action Plan (PESAP) Workshop” last September 1 to 4 at the Grand Regal Hotel, Davao City. The activity was attended by the DENR-BMB and representatives from the Regional Eagle Watch Teams of the DENR Regions, PEFI, BD Corridor Project, IUCN-CPSG, Mandai Nature, and students from the University of the Philippines-Mindanao.
Assistant Director and concurrent Deputy National Director of the BD Corridor Project Ms. Mariglo Rosaida I. Laririt warmly welcomed the participants and in her message, reminded them that, “This workshop may be about the eagle, but ultimately, this is really about us. This is about our shared humanity, and how we conducted ourselves in the short lives that we enjoyed on this planet”. Similarly, PEFI Executive Director Mr. Dennis I. Salvador beckoned those present to actively engage in meaningful discussion and participation to further the conservation and protection of the Philippine Eagle as “… the task to save our National Bird is in the hands of everyone in this room. Together, we can make a difference. Because saving the eagle is saving our environment – it is saving the resources on which millions of our people depend on for their livelihood, thus, it is saving the future of our own people.”
The activity was built on the previous Philippine Eagle PVA and PESAP Writing Workshop conducted in April 2024, which identified the threats to population stability and their impacts and severity. The current workshop validated the previous PVA results and refined the draft PESAP by identifying and discussing the conservation needs of Philippine Eagle sub-populations at each of the four islands where they are found: Luzon, Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao.
The EMBC as Home to the King of Birds
The Eastern Mindanao Biodiversity Corridor (EMBC) is one of the last strongholds for the Philippine Eagle. Based on species distribution modelling conducted by PEFI, which was supported by the BD Corridor Project, about 47 pairs out of less than 400 breeding pairs, which is a little more than 10% of the viable population, use the EMBC. The model also quantified the Philippine Eagle nest habitat suitability and how these overlap with ancestral domains and mining concessions. The findings indicate that there are 29.6% high suitability habitats, 40% of which have low suitability for nesting. In addition, core eagle habitats (areas where Philippine eagles have been sighted or frequented) comprise 26.8% high-class areas and 67.3% low-class areas.
“These are our realities,” Ms. Laririt said as she mentioned that 46% of all high suitability habitats overlap with mining areas and 65% of high class core habitats lie within ancestral domains (ADs). “[…] Much has been said about striking a balance between biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. Sustainable land use, shared responsibilities, shared resources – all of these are of local, national, and global importance.” She added, highlighting the vital importance of engagement and collaboration with the community for those overlapping with ADs, and that risks should be mitigated for those areas overlapping with mining activities. Hence, there is an urgency for highly suitable habitats to be conserved. However, conservation efforts should be strategic, and there is a need to identify these suitable areas. This is where the PVA Tool can come in.
From Numbers to Conservation Policy and Actions
IUCN-CPSG Ms. Roopali Raghavan (Left) and Mr. Simon Valle (Right) facilitate the Day 01 Discussion and present the PE PVA Workshop I Results
The PVA is a statistical model that simulates a species population in the wild based on the best scientific information available, mimicking how the species behaves and how its population may be affected by different variables. In the case of the Philippine Eagle, IUCN-CPSG Single-species Conservation Planning Programme Officer Mr. Simon Valle highlighted that the challenge from the first PVA Model was that there were many unknown variables. However, this also served as a conservation opportunity, as it identified where and what data are lacking, and that it creates a hierarchy of what threats should be prioritized for action. It was determined that juvenile (below three years old) and sub-adult (three to seven years old) eagles are the most vulnerable to threats such as hunting, shooting, and trapping, likely due to their tendency to range widely in search of territories. With these results, the PVA can serve as a basis for the focused conservation effort to reduce sub-adult mortality by mitigating threats.
To address these threats, the PESAP will serve as a guide for the national implementation of conservation efforts. The workshop carried out a conservation planning process informed by the PVA results. Activities involved in-depth plenary and focus-group discussions (FGDs) to map out direct actions to address threats and revisions or suggestions of additional action statements. The list of actions and targets includes:
- Research & Monitoring;
- Enforcement;
- Legislation;
- Habitat Protection and Management;
- Education; and
- Community Development
Mapping Activity of Threats and Direct Action in Mindanao (Left) and Small GroupDiscussion on Revisions and Further Details of Identified Actions (Right)
For Mindanao, threats such as slash and burn, nest disturbance, habitat loss due to land conversion, ecotourism, and many others were discussed to be addressed by alternative livelihoods and sustainable farming, hunting, or foraging practices as possible direct or indirect action. In the case of EMBC, interventions such as the Biodiversity-Friendly Enterprises (BDFEs), Sustainable Land Management (SLM), and Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) can be considered as strategies under these actions for the PESAP. In particular, the DAO 2021-13 or “Guidelines for the Development and Recognition of BDFEs in Protected Areas Under the National Integrated Protected Area System (NIPAS) and Conservation Areas, Providing for Incentives and Supporting Mechanisms” was emphasized as a policy that can address alternative livelihoods. Representatives from Luzon and Eastern Visayas also expressed interest in including BDFEs and sustainable practices for land uses (of which the SLM and SFM can be enforced) as possible strategies for direct action on several threats, mindful of the context of different islands and regions.
While the PVA and PESAP Revision Workshop has been concluded, much work remains to be done in order to realize the PESAP Vision of a thriving population of the National Bird by 2075, a reality not just in the EMBC, but all over the Philippines.
This story is published under the DENR-UNDP/GEF Project “Integrated Approach in the Management of Major Biodiversity Corridors in the Philippines” or BD Corridor Project, which seeks to operationalize integrated management of biodiversity corridors to generate multiple benefits, including effective conservation of globally threatened species and high conservation value forests, reduce deforestation and degradation, and enhance local biodiversity-friendly livelihoods.
The project is implemented by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme and funded by the Global Environment Facility. 🪶🍃
