Biodiversity conservation and sustainable tourism: Philippine initiatives

Catibog-Sinha, Corazon

doi:10.1080/1743873x.2010.517841

Cited by 40 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Due to such promising topography and tropical climate distribution in the Philippines, the country is popularly known to be a biodiversity megahotspot (Catibog-Sinha & Heany 2006). With its tropical climate, the country is gifted with numerous forest ecosystems: lowland rainforest, montane -mossy forest, pine forest and coastal, beach or mangrove forest.…”

Section: General Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Myxomycete research in the Philippines: Updates and opportunities

Dagamac¹

2015

Mycosphere

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Myxomycetes, commonly known as slime molds, are phagotrophic, eukaryotic organisms that exhibit both fungal and protozoan characteristics. They are widely distributed both in temperate and tropical ecoregions, where they usually occur on dead plant substrates, such as bark, twigs, dried leaves, woody vines, and even decayed inflorescences or fruits. Their unique, diverse morphologies and fascinating life strategies make them ideal model organisms to study life processes. However, despite the high potential diversity in tropical systems, little is known about them particularly in archipelagic countries, such as the Philippines. In fact, previous studies on myxomycetes in the Philippines in the late 70s and early 80s by Reynolds encompassed the most comprehensive listing for the country. A total of 107 species were recorded at that time for the Philippines and roughly 50% of these species represented new records for the country. But the paper was mainly an extensive, annotated species listing. In recent years, myxomycete research in the country has progressed beyond species lists to diversity and ecological studies. Several papers by the UST RCNAS Fungal Biodiversity and Systematics group have documented the occurrence and distribution of slime molds in several habitat types, e.g. in forest parks, coastal and inland limestone forests, lowland mountain forests, and from varied substrata -grass litter, aerial and ground leaf litter, twigs, and bark. These studies updated the list of species of myxomycetes in the Philippines to 150. These also provided baseline information on the ecological patterns and geographic distribution of slime molds in the tropics. This paper presents an update on slime mold research in the Philippines for the 35 years following Reynolds' publication in 1981 and discusses challenges and opportunities for further studies.

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Section: General Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Myxomycete research in the Philippines: Updates and opportunities

Dagamac¹

2015

Mycosphere

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“…The challenges of integrating these disciplines have led to growing calls for a more collaborative approach between conservation and biological sciences (Bennett et al, 2017;Mascia et al, 2003;Teel et al, 2018). It is crucial to continue the exploration of new ways to quantify the conservation benefits of zoo and aquarium displays as they relate to sustainable wildlife tourism goals, to support decision making for both the wildlife tourism sector and natural resource managers (Catibog-Sinha, 2010). To this end, the research presented above should be perceived as a foundation on which improved methods may be built.…”

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given the acceleration of biodiversity loss globally (Urban, 2015), both in situ and ex situ wildlife tourism experiences have become increasingly controversial (see Ballantyne, Packer, Hughes, & Dierking, 2007;D'Cruze et al, 2018;Moorhouse, D'Cruze, & Macdonald, 2017;Tribe & Booth, 2003). Although sustainable wildlife tourism goals incorporate the delivery of conservation, public education, and socio-economic benefits (Catibog-Sinha, 2010), and some activities potentially benefit wildlife or natural habitats (Ballantyne, Packer, & Falk, 2011, Miller et al, 2004, consequences can also be detrimental. Wild harvests for captive or semi-captive wildlife experiences directly impact populations, human interactions may cause wildlife behavioural changes or habitat modification, and the failure of re-introductions to the wild causes stress and/ or harm to released individuals Keulartz, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conservation impact scores identify shortfalls in demonstrating the benefits of threatened wildlife displays in zoos and aquaria

Buckley

Smith

Crook

et al. 2020

Journal of Sustainable Tourism

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Zoos and public aquaria globally display numerous wild harvested, threatened species. To validate conservation credentials, displays are often associated with research projects, educational interpretation, or conservation-related activities. However, accompanying conservation benefits are rarely assessed. In this study, an approach to evaluate conservation benefits of captive wildlife experiences is modelled by assessing four Australian aquarium displays of the Critically Endangered largetooth sawfish Pristis pristis. Conservation impact scores were calculated for research, education, and conservation-related activities. In a novel approach, sawfish-related education (gaining knowledge, changing attitudes, and intentions to change behaviours) was evaluated using a before and after study design (n ¼ 2 229), and conservation impact scores were calculated using effect sizes. Although visitors to all aquariums demonstrated significant positive attitudinal changes, and at one site gained knowledge, no significant change in behavioural intentions were detected. Educational messages addressing attitudes and behaviours were mostly generalised and untargeted. Formative and ongoing evaluations are needed to develop and maintain targeted and relevant messages. With one exception, research projects and conservation activities were unlikely to contribute substantially to sawfish conservation due to limited support from the aquaria. We recommend that increased support is directed to projects that are targeted towards impactful conservation goals. ARTICLE HISTORY

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“…The Sierra Madre and Cordillera forests in Northern Luzon were among the most extensive rainforests in the Philippines for a long time. They host highly biodiverse species of plants and animals, many of which are endemic [1][2][3][4]. Unfortunately, these forests also provided the much-coveted timber for housing and other uses and became the site of many irresponsible logging activities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reforestation and Deforestation in Northern Luzon, Philippines: Critical Issues as Observed from Space

Perez

Comiso

Aragones

et al. 2020

Forests

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Among the richest in biodiversity globally has been the Philippine rainforest, which used to cover about 90% of the country’s land area. During the last few decades, the forest cover has been reduced to less than 10% of the original, only a fraction of which is old-growth forest. The negative impacts of deforestation led to the launching of the National Greening Program (NGP) that involved the planting of more than a billion seedlings over a few million hectares of land from 2011 to 2016. To assess the success of the NGP, satellite data from Landsat and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) were analyzed before, during, and after the NGP. Reforestation in the NGP sites was examined concurrently with observed deforestation in Luzon using forest loss data derived from Landsat for the period 2001 to 2018. The results show that losses declined from 2011 to 2015 but increased from 2016 to 2018. Because of such losses, the net effect is a balance of reforestation and deforestation or no significant gain from the NGP. Case studies were done in three sites in the Sierra Madre forest, where half of the remaining old-growth forest is located, using a combination of Landsat and Very High Resolution (VHR) data. The Landsat data were classified into closed forest, open forest, and other vegetation cover types. The conversion from one vegetation cover type to another was evaluated through the use of the Sankey Diagram. While some non-forest types became open or closed forests, the loss of open or closed forests is more pronounced. VHR data reveal critical issues happening within the NGP sites during the NGP period. More comprehensive data from MODIS also confirm that there was no significant increase in the forest cover in Luzon, Sierra Madre, and Cordillera from 2001 to 2018.

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Biodiversity conservation and sustainable tourism: Philippine initiatives

Cited by 40 publications

References 19 publications

Myxomycete research in the Philippines: Updates and opportunities

Myxomycete research in the Philippines: Updates and opportunities

Conservation impact scores identify shortfalls in demonstrating the benefits of threatened wildlife displays in zoos and aquaria

Reforestation and Deforestation in Northern Luzon, Philippines: Critical Issues as Observed from Space

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