CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The Candaba Swamp’s long-time reputation as host for migratory birds at this time of the year is literally losing grounds.
The birds, escaping from the cold weather of other countries, are now finding new destinations in Central Luzon, letting go of Candaba Swamp which continues to be constricted by human activities, said Arthur Salazar, regional technical director for protected areas and wildlife of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) here.
The wild birds’ new destinations: Barangays Tortugas, Lote Itaas, Lote Ibaba and Sibacan-Tuyo in Balanga City in Bataan, and Barangays Batang I and Batang II in Sasmuan, Pampanga.
Salazar noted that recent bird census have indicated a yearly decline in the number of wild birds flying into the Candaba Swamp, even as wild bird population has been noted to be increasing significantly in Balanga and Sasmuan.
“There are also some sightings of wild birds in Casiguran, Aurora and Pantabangan Dam in Nueva Ecija, but not in significant numbers yet,” Salazar said.
Salazar, however, dismissed worldwide climate change as being responsible for the decline of seasonal wild bird population in Candaba Swamp, saying that the birds seem to be merely looking for other areas where they would not be disturbed.
Records indicate that at the turn of the 20th century, Candaba Swamp covered 27,000 hectares, but it is now just 77 hectares.
He said that more areas in the Candaba Swamp are now titled and being planted to crops.
“Some local farmers have been reported to even blast firecrakers to scare off the wild birds destroying their crops during planting season,” he added.
In the 1980’s, bird watchers, also called birders, used to count about 100,000 ducks at the Candaba Swamp at any time during the migratory season. In 2011, only 8,725 wild birds showed up in a census conducted by the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines (WBCP).
Last January, the DENR recorded merely 5,475 waterfowls of 31 local and foregin species in the swamp.
As wild bird population shrank in Candaba, Balanga City folk initiated its first Ibong Dayo (Wild Bird) Festival as they noted significant increase of wild birds in their area.
Balanga City is bounded on the north by Abucay; on the east by Manila Bay; on the west by the mountains of Bagac and Morong and on the south by Pilar, in a geographic environment that provides security and space for the wild birds, said Salazar.
Vast areas in the city’s three barangays were declared by the local government to be within the Balanga City Wetland and Nature Park (BCWNP), even as Department of Tourism (DOT) regional director Ronnie Tiotuico vowed to have the Ibong Dayo festival to be listed in the department’s national calendar of events.
Census from the DENR indicated that migratory bird population in the BCWNP jacked up from 14,899 last year to 25,935 only last January.
At the same time, Salazar also noted the tourism potential of Batang I and Batang II in Sasmuan for bird watchers. “The area has also become a major attraction to migratory birds, increasing its eco-tourism potentials,” he added.
The Philippines is part of the so-called East Asia-Pacific migratory flyway, and has 117 Important Bird Areas (IBA’s) covering 32,302 square kilometers that act as refuge for as many as 115 globally threatened species of water birds, he noted. The Candaba Swamp has been among the most well known among these IBA’s.
Wild birds migrating southward are noted in these areas from September to November, while those going north are observed from February to April. Among those frequently observed in the IBA’s are egrets and herons, ducks and Philippine mallards.
