Conservation International Lists the Philippines as a "Hot Spot"
11/16/96
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Headline: Conservation International Lists the Philippines as a "Hot Spot"
Source: Sutter Yuba Internet Exchange
Date: 11/16/96
Author: shadow@syix.com (Clyde Adkins)
Sun.Star News Service/AFP/PNA reports
http://www.gsilink.com/~sunstar/ or
http://www.sunstar.com.ph
E-Mail Address: sunstar@gsilink.com
Reprinted by permission
Copyright c 1996 Deja News, Inc
RP tagged among 5 in list of 'hotspots' that get
conservation priority
CEBU - The Philippines has been identified by Conservation
International as one of five "hot spots" worldwide whose
biological diversity is seriously threatened.
To be classified as a "hot spot," an area has to contain a
wide variety of animal and plant life, and have a large
number of endemic species that are endangered.
The four other "hot spots" are the Atlantic forest of
Brazil, the Andes, Madagascar and Indonesia.
Antonio de Castro, head of the Conservation International
program in the country, said the Philippines was picked by
the World Conservation Union (IUCN) because 67 per cent of
the animal species in the region are endemic or native to
the place. Conservation International is an environmental group that
focuses its efforts in Latin America, Africa and other
developing nations.
SERIOUS THREAT
With its wide variety of flora and fauna, he said, the
Philippines also faces a serious threat from deforestation
and environmental degradation.
De Castro was among the speakers of the fourth conference
IFEJ which ended Thursday.
He said Cebu used to be one of the regions with rich
biodiversity in the country. So far two out of 14 endemic
bird species in the country which have become extinct came
from Cebu, Panay and Negros.
Conservation International, a private organization dedicated
to the protection of global biodiversity, has programs in
the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park in Isabela province
and in the Tubbataha reefs in Palawan.
INDUSTRIALIZATION
De Castro said due to industrialization, 90 per cent of the
country's forest was lost since 1900.
A 1994 survey by Birdlife International ranks the
Philippines as number three in the world for the number of
threatened bird species, he added.
Haroldo Castro, CI's senior director of international
communications, said 60 per cent of the earth's primary
tropical rainforest is gone.
Castro cited an IUCN study which showed that 25 per cent of
all terrestrial mammals are threatened by extinction while
another 34 per cent of fish, mostly freshwater species, are
also becoming endangered.
He urged organizations, governments and the general public
to act immediately to save what remains of the world's
forests.
"Focusing on the just two or three per cent of the land
surface of the planet can accomplish a big piece of the job
of biodiversity conservation. With this perspective in mind,
the biodiversity crisis becomes much less intimidating and
the objectives are much more achievable," Castro said.
He said logging, population pressure, chemical pollution and
weak conservation programs were factors behind the decline.
Liberty Alino