Updates from the field

S. Schoppe wrote on 16-02-2016

Herewith I would like to give you some updates from our fieldwork under the project "Conservation of the Palawan Forest Turtle in Dumarao, Roxas through protected area management and wardening scheme"

The main threat to the critically endangered Palawan-endemic Palawan Forest Turtle Siebenrockiella leytensis is collection for the illegal pet and food trade followed by habitat destruction and alteration (Diesmos et al. 2012, ATTWG 2000). In 2015 alone 4,124 Palawan Forest Turtles have been confiscated between January and October (Schoppe unpublished data). Long-term mark-recapture surveys have shown that population trends over most of the range of the species are worrisome due to over-collection and limited recruitment and emigration of adults (Schoppe and Acosta 2013). In Dumarao, Roxas lack of recruitment and emigration of adults are expected to be related to the continuous destruction of the habitat. We could observe increasing denudation of riverine vegetation and consequent erosion of river banks, cutting for adjacent forest and conversion of wet lands into rice fields. Schoppe and Acosta (2015) estimated based on mark-recapture data a remaining wild population of some 6,000 individuals. This result emphasizes the urgent need to expand in-situ measures. It was a milestone when the community members of Dumarao established the Lower Ilian-Ilian – Masaya 1 – Maharlika Protected Watershed Area on 18 December 2013. In the following two years, KFI was able to establish a protected area management board and a wardening scheme thanks to the generous support of North of England Zoological Society – Chester Zoo (Schoppe et al. 2015a, b).
Highlights during the 2015 implementation of the project are a clear decrease of illegal activities in and even around the protected area. With counterpart funding from Germany we were able to increase the number of wildlife wardens which contributed significantly to the better protection of the area. Aside from patrolling, wardens also monitor wildlife encountered and take note on the phenology of important food providing trees. Observations and issues are discussed during monthly meetings of a Technical Working Group which likewise reports the findings during the quarterly meeting of the Protected Watershed Area Management Board.
As far as research of the Palawan Forest Turtle in the area is concerned, we continue monitoring its population size in the core and the buffer zone of the Protected Area. Results indicate that the populations seem to be stable over the last three year of monitoring. We also conduct studies on the diet of the Palawan Forest Turtle. We quantify food items of the Palawan Forest Turtle and assess the relative composition of the different food items from two different habitats.
For 2016, we envision information education of communities in neighbouring communities and rapid resource assessment with the aim of eventually expanding the conservation efforts to nearby areas.
This coming Friday (Feb. 19, 2016), we will celebrate with Dumarao’s elementary and high school students “Bakoko” or Turtle Day. Through games and activities we intend to inform pupils about the Palawan Forest Turtles and its conservation status and needs. We will have garbage collection along the river and consecutive explanation about the decomposition rate of the various items collected; potting soil mixing and bagging of riverine seedlings in seed bags to be raised in the nearby nursery for restoration of the river banks; and other environment related games.