The Local Organizers are the Philippines Biodiversity Conservation Foundation, headed up by Lisa Marie J. Paguntalan and Philip Godfrey Jakosalem. Godo and Lisa will be sharing more of the details and getting the conference website up soon.

Distribution of the poster ‘Cave-dwelling bats of Pisan Caves, Kabacan, Cotabato, Philippines’ with the village chieftain and co-official. The local government have agreed to have a meeting and consultation on the status and conservation management plan for bat caves in the area

Despite of this noteworthy result, continuous anthropogenic activities imperils bat population in caves. Hunting and unregulated tourism and cave entry were among the pressures to cave and bats. Community discussion revealed that bats were hunted for food and trade in local households. Hunters prefer to harvest large roosting bat species such Rousettus amplexicaudatus, Eonycteris spelaea and Hipposideros diadema because they are abundant and their meat are then sold at a very low-price compared to known price in other areas. All caves were visited for tourism and other leisure activities such as spelunking and camping. Unregulated tourism in caves contributes to the pressures in cave sites. Presence of extensive vandalism in walls, damaged structures, and lighting use inside caves were evidence of bat cave mismanagement. The vulnerability of caves to encroachment is associated with the accessibility to cave where sites with large openings and near human settlements are heavily exploited. Another factor contributing to this mismanagement was the poor community understanding of the presence of cave bats and the ecological services they provide. A series of conservation education programs in the community and training of students for future cave bat studies was spearheaded in cooperation of the conservation group of the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern Mindanao with the hope to escalate cave bat understanding and appreciation that will lead to their protection.

With the information on hand, strengthening the started efforts and forging partnership with various stakeholders is an essential next-step forward to conserve the threatened population of cave bats in south central Mindanao. Coordination and presentation of results and conservation concerns in caves were steered among the local government unit and the environmental office of the village. Recently, with the new leadership of the village chieftain, we agreed to meet various stakeholders of the village that includes the tourism officers, ethnic indigenous groups, farmers, cavers, and communities residing near the caves to discuss the wealth (bats), conservation concerns, and management plan to create a sustainable cave system that will benefit the bats, the ecosystem and the people.

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE POSTER FROM OUR PHILIPPINE OUTREACH PAGE

Krizler C. Tanalgo was a grantee of the SEABCRU Small Grant for Southeast Asian Students 2012

Sedlock, J. L., R. P. Jose, J. M. Vogt, L. M. J. Paguntalan, and A. B. Carino. (2014) A survey of bats in a karst landscape in the central Philippines. Acta Chiropterologica 16(1): 197-211.

For a copy of this paper, please contact Jodi –sedlockj(at)lawrence(dot)edu

A fishing net inside the cave shows a common capture methods (photo: J. Sedlock

Many signs of past cave disturbance

Despite the fear-filled talk of cave-dwelling aswang, people apparently have boldly entered caves and exploited cave resources on the island for a very long time.   While many caves rarely had human visitors, evidence of past visits was obvious.  In some caves all resources worth extracting had been taken years ago—stalactites, phosphate, guano and the bats that produced the guano.  Many caves had chambers reminiscent of vast, abandoned and dust-covered mansions in horror movies—eerie and rich with untold stories of more lively days.  The wall of one cave declared: “guano discovered here in 1970.”

I give a full account of our findings in the attached report below, but overall the news was not good. For now can I just hope that there remain some undiscovered caves providing refuge for Siquijor’s bats.

Siquijor caves Sedlock

Sedlock, J. L., F. Krüger, and E. Clare (2014) Island bat diets: does it matter more who you are or where you live? Molecular Ecology DOI: 10.1111/mec.12732

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.12732/abstract

The Clarin Group of Islands Wilderness Area is a protected area composed of five islands shared between the Municipalities of Tubigon and Clarin in Bohol Island, central Philippines. One of the two islands belonging to Tubigon is Cabgan Island featuring extensive mangroves, roosting colonies of endemic and threatened Philippine Duck Anas luzonica and the colony of flying foxes.

Like many rural communities in the country, opportunities to improve the local economy in Tubigon are limited. After the earthquake that struck the island in 15 October 2013, people had difficulties recovering from the massive destruction and daily quest to meet basic needs is always a struggle.

The Local Government of Tubigon in partnership with Grassroots Travel, recognized the ecological and social values of bats and their habitats but also the economic opportunities and “ecotourism” importance that flying foxes or bats can bring to the region. It may not be the ideal way but it is good enough reason for habitats to be protected locally. This would be an opportunity for Tubigon to get a share of the recovering tourism industry of Bohol, and offer another unique ecotourism tour option for the island. The Philippines Biodiversity Conservation Foundation Inc. (PBCFI) in turn provided simple bat identification training workshops, basic bat ecology and simple bat monitoring activities.

We believe that for a conservation endeavor to succeed, local stakeholders should be the lead group in putting forward the local conservation agenda and in generating benefits from protecting natural resources. A strong partnership with municipal government coupled with activities that enhances the local capacity of communities would be more effective in addressing conservation issues. By providing a background on conservation, importance of natural habitats, endemic wildlife as well as potential activities that promote the welfare of the forest and wildlife as well as provide long-term economic benefits to the people would be a step closer in influencing perceptions of local inhabitants in developing eco-tourism activities e.g. batwatching. The proposed training was designed to train local communities to identify bats in their municipality and to act as local bat guides in the area.

Training Fishermen as Batmen

A group of 39 fishermen and women from the fishing village of Macaas, Tubigon town in Bohol Island, Philippines were trained in basic bat ecology, bat identification and monitoring last 23-26 March 2014. Of the 39 participants five were Barangay Health Workers (BHW), five were members of Macaas barangay council including the barangay captain and the rest were fishermen and members of the Peoples Organization. The training was funded by the Local Government of Tubigon in partnership with Philippines Biodiversity Conservation Foundation Inc. and Grassroots Travel.

The roost site in Cabgan Island is already functionally protected, where Large Flying Fox Pteropus vampyrus and Island Flying Fox Pteropus hypomelanus colonies are tolerant of human presence and can be seen at a close distance. This can be developed as “showcase” sites with a locally – driven education and awareness program to draw visitors and tourists to the sites and learn about these bats.

The ecotourism project incorporates local support for roost-site protection and the Local government units are taking the lead develop in identifying select sites as protected sanctuaries that will double as high-value educational and tourism venues. Local tour guides, typically already employed to show visitors unique wildlife and forest areas near the community, were trained specifically to answer questions about the fruit bats and the need for bat conservation in the Philippines.

Batwatching Lecture-Workshop

The training started with lectures of bat diversity in the Philippines, importance of bats, basic bat ecology and use of equipment. Participants were given the chance to practice and handle equipment e.g. binoculars and spotting scopes. Effort was made to make sure that each participant was given a chance to familiarize themselves to the basic parts of the equipment after which they were then taken to the field to try using the equipment and see the roosting colonies of bats.

Learning the basics of bats and bat ecology and importance in the Philippines

Participants in the field learning how to spot their bats

Bat Guiding Practicum

Participants engaged in one of the exercises given by Sherry Paul Ramayla where they have to match the image (head and tail) of different families of bats.

At the end of three days of lectures and field activities, the participants will conduct their first-ever guided tour taking volunteer tourists from the municipality and their village. Invited guests will rate their conduct and performance and will be the basis for their final evaluation.

We will be closely monitoring the progress and development of this batwatching tour on its impact on the lives of the people of Macaas and Tubigon, the economy on the locality as well as on the welfare of the wildlife in the area including that of the bats, the threatened and endemic Philippine Duck, shellfishes and mangroves.

Lisa ready for action!

For more information, please contact:

Lisa Paguntalan
Director for Field Operations
Philippines Biodiversity Conservation Foundation Inc.
Email: lmjpaguntalan@pbcfi.org.ph; lisamariep10@yahoo.com
www.pbcfi.org.ph

For the superstitious, there may be nothing scarier than the flying foxes of the Philippines, whose 2-meter wingspans make them the largest bats in the world!

In keeping with the near-global fear and mistrust of nocturnal animals, Philippine flying foxes (fruit bats) are linked with many of the eerie spirits that haunt their nights.

Most closely resembling a flying fox is the Manananggal of the Philippines

Most closely resembling a flying fox is Manananggal (left). This aswang (Filipino for vampire-like creatures) is a woman by day, but at night her torso detaches in the middle. The upper half grows bat wings allowing her to fly through the night in search of her preferred source of nourishment: the unborn fetus. According to the myth, Manananggal lands on the roof of a home and drops her long, needle-thin tongue into the belly of a pregnant woman in her sleep.

This evil, mythological creature shares the distribution of flying foxes in Southeast Asia under the monikers Manananggal (Philippines); Pennangalan (Malay); Leyak (Balinese); Kuyang (Dayak); Palasik (Indonesia); Krasue (Thai); Kasu or Phi-Kasu (Lao), Ab (Khmer).

Evening departure of thousands of flying foxes could send the superstitious running for cover

Although not as explicit as Manananggal, most aswang in the Philippines have characteristics of flying foxes. Tik-tik and Wak-wak are similar to Manananggal, but said to be black birds and are named, respectively, for their “tik-tik” nocturnal calls and the “wak-wak” sound of airy flapping wings, both of which are recognizable sounds made by flying foxes at night. Tiyanak is in the form of a human baby, but has fangs and sharp claws and flies away as a black bird. Capre and Tikbalang take on different animal forms, yet are found in fig trees at night with red reflective eyes like fruit bats.

Pteropus vampyrus (by Masteraah via Wikimedia Commons)

However, not all myths about flying foxes are negative. Across their wide distribution, flying fox meat is believed to be distinctively clean and nutritious with medicinal properties supporting the elderly and people with asthma and other respiratory illnesses.

In addition, scientific research has shown these amazing creatures are vital to human survival. As pollinators and seed dispersers, flying foxes are essential for maintaining natural forests, often the only source of fresh water, air, and timber and non-timber forest products. Flying foxes are also known to pollinate hundreds of agriculturally important crops for the region.

Mould, A. 2012. Cave bats of the central west coast and southern section of the Northwest Panay Peninsula, Panay Island, the Philippines. Journal of Threatened Taxa 4(11): 2993-3028. http://www.threatenedtaxa.org/ZooPrintJournal/2012/September/antony.htm

As one of the students in the department, and as I had conducted a study before in the area, I thought for an idea of how I could contribute in a little way with a big impact and one thing comes into my mind –to educate young minds in the area about the biodiversity and importance of bats. The very objective of the educational campaign is to make these locals, especially these young minds, aware of the ecological role of bats in maintaining balance in the environment.

A total of more than thirty young minds (aged 6-12 years old) participated in the educational campaign, and also their parents participated in the program; despite the small budget for the campaign we found ways to make it through. With my classmates and teachers, I conducted a mini-lecture on bats. To add-up their learning on bats, I created a local dialect based educational video entitled  ”Ang mga Munting Paniki na Lumilipad” that means “The Little Flying Bats”, the video is composed of information on the importance and ecological role of bats, threats and misconception about these little mammals, and how we can help to save bat populations. The participants also enjoyed the color-a-flying-bat activity.

The program ended with the kids receiving school supplies for the opening of the class. The campaign was indeed a successful start, for it was not only the kids who enjoyed and listened to the lecture, but also their parents and many locals. Despite the many people interested in preserving the bat populations of the site, local hunting is still exisst and this made me dedicate myself to double-up my efforts in research and education in the area. I am looking forward for people who will support with these endeavors to protect these small flying bats.

Krizler’s Outreach Gallery:

Four of the students that attended Kendra’s presentation are now working on their senior thesis in conjunction with her dissertation research on Bohol, including a student who is studying population ecology of a common cave bat species (Hipposideros diadema). To date these students have participated in surveying bat populations roosting in 4 caves on the island, from which they have learned how to capture and properly handle bats, take standard morphological measurements, and identify species of cave bats.