Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson welcomed participants to the Philippine Flying Fox Conservation and Management Forum at the provincial government-run Mambukal Resort and Wildlife Sanctuary in Murcia, Monday, July 4.
The forum entails a comprehensive conservation and management plan to preserve the vulnerable flying foxes.
The event was attended by executives from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, environment stakeholders, representatives from the different regions of the country, the academe and non-government organizations.
Lacson said that flying foxes are considered endangered, and the Philippines is host to ten of their species. Of the ten flying fox species, five are found only in the Philippines and nowhere else in the world, he added.
“While it is true that the balance of our biodiversity isn’t always easy to maintain, we must nonetheless undertake the necessary steps for its protection and balance; for ecological, medical, agricultural, and even aesthetic and recreational importance,” the governor said.
Among the attendees at the forum were DENR Region 9 Assistant Regional Director, Dante Oporto, Katherine Soriano of the DENR – Biodiversity Management Bureau, Dr. Tammy Mildenstein of the University of Guam, Dr. Juliana Senawi and Dr. Nur Ain Elias of the University of Malaysia, Sheherazade of Indonesia, and Dr. Merlyn Van Weerd of Mabuwaya Foundation.*