Mindoro is one of the seven faunal regions or centers of endemism in the Philippines and rates as one of the world’s 12 most critical “Endemic Bird Areas” or EBA. The Island holds six

endemic bird species: the Mindoro Bleeding Heart (Gallicolumba platenae), Mindoro Imperial Pigeon (Ducula mindorensis), Black-hooded Coucal (Centropus steerii), Mindoro Hornbill (Penelopides mindorensis), Scarlet-collared Flowerpecker (Dicaeum retrocinctum) and Mindoro Scops Owl (Otus mindorensis). All are globally threatened except for the Mindoro Scops Owl. (Collar et al, 1986). The iconic Tamaraw is also endemic to the island.

Severe habitat destruction threatens the survival of the remaining forests in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro. Deforestation has heavily hit the island’s commercially valuable lowland forests. Mt. Siburan, which is located in the municipality of Sablayan, has the largest tract of remaining lowland forests (1,500 has) known to Mindoro. It is adjacent to the large Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm (SPPF), which restricts access to the forest and therefore provides some degree of forest protection. Siburan has been identified as a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) as it holds most of the threatened and restricted-range lowland forest birds of the Mindoro EBA.

For almost a decade now, Haribon has been doing conservation work in Mt. Siburan in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro. One of the major stakeholders that Haribon engages with is the Community-based Forest Management Association (CBFMA) in Sitio Palbong, Bgy. Batong Buhay, a peoples organization that the Dept. of Environment & Natural Resources awarded the stewardship for 545 hectares of forest. Its membership of 138 families who are Ilocano, Visayan and Bicolano were resettled in the area as a result of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption. Mostly farmers, they plant rice, corn, monggo and banana to survive. An approach that Haribon used was to promote and strengthen the rights of local people to use, manage and benefit from local resources and to have a say in resource management decisions.

Mindoro experiences distinct wet and dry seasons. This is further aggravated by the impacts of climate change when at times prolonged dry spells are felt. Given this, a menu of livelihood options such as establishment of native tree nurseries, forest restoration, bio-intensive gardens, organic farming, goat raising and buri craft were provided to the CBFMA that enabled them to have various sources of income. In forest restoration, the CBFMA is paid for the seedlings and the maintenance work that they do. As a result, 12.59 hectares of degraded forest have been restored with native trees like amugis, bangkal, bogo, dulitan, kalumpit, kupang, malasantol, malugai, narra, nato, pahutan, tuai and white lauan. Communal and individual nurseries have been established that supply the seedlings for their forest restoration activities. This has brought an additional income to the member families ranging from P9,000-18,000 annually that was used for education and farming.

Bio-intensive gardens planted with vegetables were also established. The objective is to provide families with nutritious food daily and to lessen a family’s cost for its daily food needs. In some instance, a number of families have been able to sell excess produce. Trainings on buri craft and broom making were given because raw materials were abundant. However, not much success was noted because of the lack of market and the cost of transporting products to the poblacion. However, there are a number of individuals who make the brooms upon order.

Because ecotourism is the product that the local government unit of Sablayan is promoting, Haribon provided training on bird guiding given that there are bird enthusiasts who go to the area to try to see the endemics. To further strengthen the CBFMA as an organization, capability building sessions on environmental laws, basic ecology, financial management, leadership and organizational strengthening were given to empower them and to establish the foundations for sustained conservation liked to local-level priorities and contexts.

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