Biodiversity Change in the Panay Mountain Range from 2014 to 2017 Imprint This publication is by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH through the Forest and Climate Protection in Panay-Phase II (ForClim II) Project, funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) under its International Climate Initiative. BMU supports this Initiative based on a decision of the German Parliament. For more information, see http://www.international-climate-initiative.com. As a federally owned enterprise, GIZ supports the German Government in achieving its objectives in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development. Published by: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Registered offices Bonn and Eschborn Ground Floor Forest Management Bureau Annex Building Department of Environment and Natural Resources Compound Visayas Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City 1101, Philippines T +63 2 697 3127 Programme: Forest and Climate Protection in Panay – Phase II Author: Ruth Martinez Photo credits/sources: ©GIZ/Bernie Agaloos ©GIZ/Haribon Foundation ©GIZ/Jürgen Schade Forest and Climate Protection in Panay-Phase II Project URL links: This publication contains links to external websites. Responsibility for the content of the listed external sites always lies with their respective publishers. When the links to these sites were first posted, GIZ checked the third-party content to establish whether it could give rise to civil or criminal liability. However, the constant review of the links to external sitescannot reasonably be expected without concrete indication of a violation of rights. 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Printing and distribution: GIZ, Quezon City Quezon City, Philippines | 2018 Contents Abbreviations ......................................................................................................................................................................................i 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................................. 1 2. Methodology ................................................................................................................................................................................. 4 2.1. Species occurrence survey .................................................................................................................................................. 5 2.1.1 Ethno-biological survey............................................................................................................................................... 5 2.1.2 Field validation .............................................................................................................................................................. 8 2.2 Population size survey ......................................................................................................................................................... 9 3. Results .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 10 3.1 Ethno-biological survey ..................................................................................................................................................... 11 3.2 Field survey .......................................................................................................................................................................... 13 3.3 Results of key species monitoring ................................................................................................................................... 13 4. Lessons learned and conclusions ............................................................................................................................................ 15 References ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 17 Annexes ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 20 Annex 1. Questionnaire used in the ethno-biological surveys .......................................................................................... 21 Annex 2. Mammals, birds and herpetofauna of the Panay Mountain Range 2012-2013 ............................................. 23 Annex 3. Visayan hornbill nest hole coordinates 2017 ...................................................................................................... 29 Abbreviations CBFMA Community Based Forest Management Agreement CENRO Community Environment and Natural Resources Office(r) CH Critical Habitat CLUP Comprehensive Land Use Plan DAO Department Administrative Order DENR Department of Environment and Natural Resources eBMS enhanced Biodiversity Management System FGD Focus Group Discussions FLUP Forest Land Use Plan FMB Forest Management Bureau ForClim Panay Forest and Climate Protection Project Panay GIS Geographical Information System GPS Global Positioning System KII Key Informant Interviews LGU Local Government Unit MENRO Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office(r) ODK Open Data Kit PESCP Philippine Endemic Species Conservation Project PMR Panay Mountain Range i 1 Introduction Forests fulfil a range of important functions and services: they regulate the climate, serve as carbon storage, and provide food and fuel. Further, an intact forest ecosystem ensures diversity within species (IUCN 2017). Maintaining forests is pivotal when facing the challenges of climate change. The Philippines are particular rich in biodiversity, and Philippine forests are home to many endemic species. Nonetheless, over the course of the past century, the Philippines has experienced a considerable decline of its forest cover. From 1934 to 2011, the forest cover declined by more than 40% from 17.8 million ha to 7.168 million ha (Carandang et al. 2013). Unclear tenure rights, resulting in open access forest lands, shifting cultivation, mining, illegal logging and forest conversion are the main factors that drive continuous degradation of Philippine forests (Carandang et al. 2013, Bugayong et al. 2016). This is also true for the Panay Mountain Range (PMR) which is located on the island of Panay in the Visayas region of the Philippines (Figure 2) and comprises a forest area of about 105,200 ha (Schade 2018). The PMR is the most important forest carbon pool in the region and is refuge to a variety of endemic species. In order to conserve its biodiversity and protect endangered species, the Forest and Climate Protection (ForClim) Project Panay promotes the declaration of “Critical Habitats” (CH), which are habitats of endemic species in need of special protection. The ForClim Project was funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) through its International Climate Initiative (IKI) and jointly implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Philippines (DENR). It aimed to enhance protection of the forests and biodiversity of the PMR. ForClim promoted sustainable and decentralised management and protection of forest resources through the establishment of Forest Land Use Plans (FLUPs) and Comprehensive Land Use Plans (CLUPs) in 20 municipalities across four provinces in Panay. Through capacity building of the Municipality Environmental and Natural Resource Officers (MENROs) and local forest guards (bangtay gubats) and the provision of sustainable livelihood, the project strengthened the overall forest protection and decreased illegal activities in the forests. It also encouraged the integration of CH establishment into FLUPs to enhance biodiversity protection measures. One of the aims of the ForClim Project was the establishment of Critical Habitat areas as part of Forest land Use Planning (Lacan et al. 2018). CHs are “areas outside protected areas under Republic Act No. 75861 that are known habitats of threatened species and designated as such based on scientific data taking into consideration species endemicity and/or richness, presence of man-made pressures/threats to the survival of wildlife living in the area, among others;” (DENR 2007). Therefore, information about the distribution and abundance of endemic species and threats is required as a key input in the land-use planning process. To get this information, the