DENR-Biodiversity Management Bureau together with USAID’s Protect Wildlife team conducted Dalaw Turo in Bongao, and the Turtle Islands in Tawi-tawi from June 14-19, 2019. Dalaw Turo hopes to raise awareness on biodiversity conservation among the youth and the community through interactive activities, games, puppetry, and story telling sessions.

Tawi-tawi is home to the remaining 20-30 Sulu hornbills , the last ones in the world! According to mongabay.com, “The Sulu hornbill (Anthracoceros montani) has the smallest population of any of the Critically Endangered hornbill species and must in fact be considered the rarest and most endangered hornbill in the world. Its distribution range has shrunk, its population has collapsed, and the species is in imminent danger of disappearing altogether.

The Sulu hornbill — “tawsi” in the local language — is endemic to the Philippines, occurring only on islands in the Sulu Archipelago between Mindanao and Borneo. It is the sole member of the Bucerotidae family within its area and was described as widespread and abundant at the time of its discovery in 1880. Since then, the population has crashed.”

The Philippines hosts five of the seven marine turtle species found worldwide. These are green, hawksbill, olive ridley, loggerhead,and leatherback turtles. Turtles are gentle creatures and are severely threatened. Their eggs and meat are poached, traded and eaten. They are easily trapped within fishing nets/ gears, and because they think floating plastics are jellyfish, they tend to consume these marine debris.

The Turtle Island Wildlife Sanctuary (TIWS) is one of the major nesting grounds for hawksbill and green sea turtles. TWIS is a protected area under the NIPAS Presidential Proclamation No. 171 signed on 26 August 1999 and later became part of RA 11038 (E-NIPAS). The Governments of the Philippines and Malaysia established the Turtle Islands Heritage Protected Area (TIHPA), the 1st and only trans-frontier protected area for marine turtles in the world. Management of the TIHPA is shared by both countries, making possible the conservation of habitats and sea turtles over a large area independent of their territorial boundaries. Protect Areas under ENIPAS are managed by the DENR.

With the establishment of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, the Bangsamoro Government and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, as well as other relevant government agencies, will start the process of transferring the management of these areas to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

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